Love and Laptops
by Pinkcandle
Summary: Even as his friends get boyfriends and girlfriends and go on dates, Izzy remains completely distant from the dating scene. That is until he finds his seemingly perfect match online. Willis/Izzy
1. Online Dating

CSU Home

Log In: ********

College of Engineering

Forum Engineers Without Borders

WELCOME! YOUR SERVICE PARTNER HAS ARRIVED!

DenverTwins: Hey, have you been waiting very long?

Iz1010: I've been on for a few hours, but don't worry. How's everything?

DenverTwins: Heavy. I'm getting deeper into my major. All this information we're trading is actually going to have to be compiled soon. The service project is actually our final, right? But... I did want to talk to you about that. You know, the service project. Something's come up.

Iz1010: Something? Don't tell me it's been shut down or changed or something.

DenverTwins: No! No! Nothing like that. It's actually pretty cool. See, we have to go visit our service partners. We earn experience hours by working in a foreign envrionment and learning how other systems work. It's the final culmination of all my research. So... basically, heh... I'll be coming to visit you. Isn't that great?

Iz1010: Really? You're serious? You get to come to Japan and visit me for the project? That's awesome!

DenverTwins: Yeah! Of course, I'm serious! I had to take out a student loan to do it, and it counts as both a birthday and Christmas gift from my parents, but it will be totally worth it. I'm sure we can put a great project together. With your help, we'll finish the assignment in no time. Considering that I'll be there for about a month, we'll have plenty of free time afterward. And that brings me to the next point, um.... Oh man, I'm nervous over the internet. How dorky is that?

Iz1010: Trust me, I feel it too sometimes. But... what is it? This sounds great, is something wrong?

DenverTwins: I guess it all depends on how you view our relationship. I mean... I kind of feel like we've gotten to be pretty close over the course of this project. You know... close. And I just thought that we could spend some, well... personal time together?

Iz1010: Oh! Um, well, yeah. I think we've gotten... close, too. If we're thinking the same thing, I'd love to spend some personal time together outside of the project.

DenverTwins: Yeah? Really? Cool... Cool! We've gotten along really well together so far, and I want to get to know you better in person. You can show me all the really geeky places to hang out in Japan, lol.

Iz1010: Aha, yeah! I sure will... so, you'll let me know when you're coming in, right? And uh, we'll meet up once you get here?

DenverTwins: Yeah! I'll most likely be coming in in about three weeks. Basically once the semester starts coming to an end, but I'll let you know for sure when. I'm really looking forward to this. You know... to seeing you.

Iz1010: I'm really excited too! So, uh, heh, I guess I'll see you then, huh?

DenverTwins: Yeah! Yeah, see you then. Um... bai bai.

"Izzy? Izzy! Wake up!" The redhead seemed to jerk out of a daydreaming daze when Mimi snapped her fingers in his face. She frowned at him from where she sat next to him on her couch. "I didn't invite you over so you could space out, Izzy. I mean really, we don't all get to see each other much!"

"S-sorry, Mimi," the boy apologized quickly, waving his hands. "I didn't meant to, I was just... thinking about something, that's all."

"Well, what is it that's so darn important!?"

"Oh, um... nothing."

"Aw, c'mon, Izzy," Tai insisted. "You're hardly ever this distracted. You must be thinking about something really big."

"I know I've got entrance exams to worry about! No one's asked me about that!" Joe exclaimed dramatically.

Tai just shrugged. "Well, Joe, you're always worried about something, so we've all just gotten used to you freaking out all the time."

"Oh! Oh! I'm so glad to know that my friends are concerned about my mental well-being!" Mimi patted Joe's leg comfortingly, trying to get him to stop breathing hard after yelling across the room at Tai.

"C'mon guys," TK said with a frown. It was funny seeing the bright colored beach boy sitting next to his darkly dressed rock star brother. "Don't fight. We're supposed to be having a good time. Now tell us what's up, Izzy."

Yamato glanced over at Izzy, and soon all of the gazes followed suit and were trained on the redhead. "Well, uh..." Izzy started, tapping his two index fingers together. "My, um... girlfriend is coming over from America to visit me next week."

The room was dead silent before Tai bursted out into loud, obnoxious, uncontrollable laughter. "You have a girlfriend?! That's hilarious!"

Joe's glasses had slipped down on his nose. While he was inclined to agree with Tai on the matter, the fact that he had hooked up with Mimi was of equal unbelievability. TK looked to his brother to see what the appropriate response might be. Yamato was usually cool in all situations. As funny as this was to hear, laughing wasn't right, was it? Sora had sat on the foot lounge and currently had her hand over her mouth in an attempt to hide her giggles. Mimi was giggling just as Sora was. Izzy's face blushed bright red, and he made a fist and waved it around wildly. "It's not funny! I'm serious!"

"No, it's not funny," Yamato said, smacking his boyfriend in the arm to try and get him to stop laughing so loudly. "Congratulations, Izzy. What's her name?"

"Oh, well, uh... I don't really... know..."

Joe had his hands on his girlfriend's shoulders. "Mimi, sshh..." TK had now turned his face away and was coughing into his fist awkwardly.

Sora looked at the redhead with a smile. "Izzy, how could you have not asked her her name? That's the first thing you do."

"Because she's not real!" Tai snorted. "He can't come up with one quick enough. America? That's convenient." The teen almost fell out of his chair laughing. "Izzy having a girlfriend! That's awesome! Oh man..."

"I met her online," Izzy explained, trying to do his best to ignore Tai, though he was still red with embarrassment. "I signed up to do an international program with a student from a college from a different country to kill time. We were supposed to share engineering information to help her with a project. And, I dunno, we just... got along really well, and now she's coming to Japan for a month to finish the project and we're gonna... go on a date, I guess."

"Aw, Izzy, that's so sweet," Sora cooed.

Joe gave an affirming nod. "Congratulations." Tai still insisted on laughing on the floor.

"An American girlfriend, that's so cool!" said TK. "I bet she's gonna have blonde hair and blue eyes! And those American girls are full, y'know? With curves and stuff?" Sometimes the boy's mouth ran away with his emerging hormones. "You're so lucky, Izzy. I wish I had a girlfriend like that. I bet she's gonna be hot."

"TK!" Kari hissed, grabbing his ear and pulling on it hard from where she'd stood silently behind his chair. Yamato just sighed, putting his head in his hand. Sometimes it was hard to listen to his little brother talk like that, when Yamato still saw him as a kid.

"It's not really that big of a deal!" Izzy said quickly, "We're going to do a project, and exchange comparative information on technological advances over international borders in an internet cafe or something. That's all."

Tai's head popped up over the edge of the chair he'd fallen out of. "Is that geek talk for cyber sex?"

"N-No!" Izzy stammered, "No, nothing as crude as that, Tai!"

Yamato leaned over the chair to look at Tai, his chin resting in a ringed hand. "Comfy down there? Or can you get on a chair and act civil like the rest of us?" he snorted with a bit of a smirk.

Tai looked back up at the blond with his own smirk. "Maybe you can join me on the floor?"

Yamato rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "As much as I know you'd like that, I don't think so."

"But I think we need to show Izzy what to do when his 'girlfriend' gets here," which he said actually using air quotes.

TK's face blanched. "I don't wanna think about my brother doing that!" Izzy had buried his blushing face in his hands, and Kari had travelled over to his side of the room to pat his shoulder comfortingly.

"What're they talking about?" Mimi whispered to Joe. She still hadn't caught on after all of the years that had gone by.

The last thing Joe wanted to do was explain to Mimi that Taichi and Yamato had been gay for the better part of three years. Gay together. Having gay sex. So he just laughed and shook his head. "Oh, you know those two, always making jokes about something. I don't really get it either."

"Oh, well, okay..." Mimi said, putting her finger to her lips and looking over at Yamato and Tai again, who were still sending quips back and forth, Yamato occasionally giving Tai a playful slap on the shoulder and Tai bursting out into laughter again. Izzy was just glad that it seemed the subject of why he had been daydreaming seemed to be dropped as Kari soon rejoined her brother on the other side of the room, and everyone was paying attention to the two boys' squabble instead of Izzy. He didn't really want to explain himself anymore, even if it was all true. He'd met a brilliant girl who was already attending college at his age and she was into everything he was into, science and computers and all. She was everything he wanted, and she was coming to Japan in a week just to see him. He'd be lying if he said that he hadn't been preoccupied for the last two weeks thinking about it.

"So..." Sora began cheerfully. "Where are you going to meet her? Are you going to be picking her up from the airport? Is she going to stay with you? Your parents would make a really nice host family." The girl smiled. "I think it's great, Izzy. You're really sweet and I'm sure she's going to love you."

Izzy looked surprised when someone was talking to him again. "No, uh, she's meeting me at a cafe the first day. And um, then she's going to stay over, yeah." He scratched at the back of his head, saying, "Thanks, Sora. I hope so."


	2. Miscommunication

A week later, Izzy found himself sitting at the internet cafe where he was supposed to be meeting his date. He'd actually buttoned up one of his collared shirts instead of leaving it open to expose his oversized t-shirt, and wore long pants instead of baggy shorts. It wasn't saying too much, but it showed a level of being kept that the boy usually didn't attain. He was sitting at one of the computers, tapping a single key over and over as he watched the clock on the bottom of the screen. She said she'd be there around this time, so any minute now, she'd come walking through those doors. Izzy's foot tapped nervously on the bottom rung of his chair and he kept glancing at the door. A blond boy walked in through the doors not too long after. He was glancing at his watch nervously and then looking up to scan the cafe. The Japanese phrase book made it obvious that he wasn't exactly a native. Most of the people in the cafe seemed to be with someone or were clearly on their own. Then he caught sight of a red-haired kid whom he would have thought to be an American if not for his Japanese facial features. This one seemed to be alone and not too terribly busy, so he approached. "Um, excuse me? Sorry, but, have you seen a girl come in here at all? Maybe in the last thirty minutes or so? She would have been alone and maybe looked like she was waiting for someone?"

"No, sorry. I've been here for a while and it's been pretty empty," Izzy said, looking up with a frown. But he realized the other boy also looked concerned, so he gestured to the computer and empty chair next to him. "But, I'm waiting for someone too. We can wait together if you like."

The boy smiled. "Thank you. I appreciate it." He bowed a bit awkwardly and deeply before he took his seat. Blue eyes skimmed a page on his phrase book before he spoke again. "My name is Willis. I am supposed to be meeting a girl from my host family here. I came on a..." He glanced at the book again. "School trip to visit her. It is a kind of exchange program." The boy spoke his words carefully, if not a bit slowly at times, and articulated everything.

Izzy smiled and nodded. "An exchange program? Well, that's cool. My name's Koushiro, but everyone calls me Izzy. Nice to meet you," the boy said, offering his hand.

"Izzy? That is a cool name." He looked at the hand and laughed nervously. "You really do that here?" he asked, shaking the other kid's hand. "I thought you were all bows and 'thank you's."

"Yeah, but I can tell you're not from around here," Izzy said with a laugh. "I figured I'd go for a handshake."

The boy shrugged sheepishly. "You caught me. I am from America, like you probably already could not tell. I used to have a Japanese girlfriend who tried to teach me how to talk and behave properly." He laughed. "Obviously I did not listen very well. I never expected to be here."

"Well, for someone who doesn't live here, you're not that bad at speaking Japanese." He raised an eyebrow a bit. "You weren't expecting to be here? So it's not like, a Japanese class school trip?"

"Nope," Willis said, shaking his head. "I am the only one who came. See, I actually take college courses back home in Colorado. My degree is in engineering. Part of my major requires me to partake in an international exchange program where I learn and make a service project from my experiences. My partner just happened to live in Japan."

Izzy's eyes went wide as the boy spoke. He was putting the pieces together in his head, and finally managed, "Sorry if this seems like a weird question," he swallowed nervously, "but does the name DenverTwins mean anything to you?"

Willis' expression became one of confusion. "Yeah, it is my screen name I use for chat rooms. Why? Have we chat before?"

"Uh, well..." Izzy pointed to himself with an equally confused looking expression. "See, my screen name is Iz1010..."

"Oh?" Willis' face fell. "Oh..." He coughed. "Looks like we, uh... We had some confusion happen somewhere along the way, huh?"

"Uh, yeah." Izzy's heart had sunk as well. Here he thought he'd been stood up by his girlfriend. Turned out he didn't have one at all, just another boy who had thought he was a girl as well. "Looks like it," he murmured, before coughing nervously as well, slumping back in his chair.

"Guess we should have asked each other our names, huh?" Willis wasn't as disappointed as he was embarrassed. He really should have taken the time to learn the basics about his service partner. Name, age, gender. It was the cornerstone of internet relationships, and he'd skipped right over it. "Well, look, it is not like we cannot still do the project. And we still have a lot in common. I am sure this is just as cliche to say and hear in Japan as it is in America, but... We can still be friends, right?"

"Right," Izzy said, smiling in a friendly, if not awkward way. "Well, I guess we should head to my house, then. U-Unless you actually wanted something from the cafe."

"Mmmn..." Willis looked over to the food and drink counter, and then back at Izzy. "Do you guys sell coffee here? I sort of developed a taste for it being at college."

Izzy nodded, laughing a bit as he said, "It's an internet cafe, of course. We need our caffeine." He lead the way over to the counter and was soon helping Willis translate what was up on the board behind the counter.

In the end, Willis ordered a double tall decafe mocha latte and poured three cups of cream into it. They were soon outside, walking through the streets of Odaiba. Willis was doing the tourist thing by pointing to buildings and plants, and making fascinated sounds and expressions. He would shift his backpack carefully now and then, doing his best not to let it hit or bump into anything. "So, Izzy, you seem like a really smart kid. Why are you still in grade school?"

"I suppose that would be because I spend more time on personal endeavors than school work." Izzy said, shrugging his shoulders slightly. He didn't want to get into a huge conversation about the school system by telling Willis that Japanese students couldn't skip grades like that. "I mean, I get good grades, but I would much rather procure a full night for building a computer or coding than studying."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good time," Willis said, nodding. "I did not really want to go to college right away. What twelve-year-old does? I wanted to wait a few years, you know, to just do fun stuff. Mom and dad wanted me to get a good head start, though."

"Twelve is a rather young age to start college," Izzy said, looking over at Willis, "But it is pretty impressive that you can handle that work load."

Willis laughed nervously. "Sure, as long as I don't mind missing out on sleep."

Izzy frowned a bit, crossing his arms. "Well, with our combined efforts, I'm sure we'll be done with this project rather quickly. So you can catch up and treat this like a vacation."

The blond nodded with a big smile. "A vacation sounds like just what I need. I bet going to one of those public hot sping baths things would be good for me. Can we do that, or is it like an adult thing?"

"Yeah, sure, as long as we go during the right hours," Izzy said, scratching his chin a bit as he murmured, "There's adult hours, boy's hours, and girl's hours at a lot of them. You have to make sure you get out before the next set starts."

Willis nodded. "That sounds easy enough. Oh! Can we go to an arcade? You like video games, right?"

"Oh, yeah!" Izzy said, suddenly grinning. "We can do that, and I've also got a pretty varied collection of video games at my house."

"Maybe it is not such a bad thing that you turned out to be a boy," Willis laughed. "I think I am going to have way more fun with this set-up. Hanging out with a cool guy sounds perfect. Everyone I know it older so... you know, it is hard."

Izzy nodded, laughing as well, though his was still a little nervous. "Yeah, I can see how that'd be hard. My friends are mostly older than me, but not by so much."

"Am I going to meet your friends?" he asked.

"Well..." Izzy said, scratching at the back of his neck. "Uh, they all kinda think you're a girl, since I did..."

Willis snickered slightly. "You told them a girl was coming to visit you? Oh boy, I sure will be a surprise, huh?" He pat Izzy on the back. "Do not take it so hard. We all make mistakes. It is the ambiguity that is the internet."

"Yeah, I guess," Izzy said, offering a snicker as well. "I don't think any of them believed me when I said a girl was coming over to meet me, anyway."

"Because god forbid a geek get lucky with a girl, right?"

"Precisely," Izzy snorted, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm honestly perplexed by their outlook on the situation. They seem to perceive me as someone who lacks the capabilities to attain a date, let alone a girlfriend of the steady nature."

Willis laughed. "I only stopped thinking girls were icky about two years ago. I am a little surprised how eager I was to find a girl and be friends with her. I was even more excited when I actually had a girlfriend. She ended up being a little too bold for me though." He shifted his backpack again and sipped his coffee. "I decided then that the quiet, shy, intellectuals might be more my type. You fell right in and fit perfectly."

Izzy was scratching at the back of his neck again, coughing before he suddenly turned on his heel and gestured to the apartment complex he'd stopped them in front of. "This is my building," he said, leading the way inside and hitting the button for the elevator.


	3. Getting To Know Each Other

Willis got into the elevator and they rode up. When they got to the door and Izzy was unlocking it, the boy asked, "Um... Do I take of my shoes before or after I go inside?"

"After, there's a place for them. Watch," Izzy said, opening the door and slipping his shoes off onto a mat in the entrance before he stepped up the one step onto the wood flooring. "Mom, dad! I'm home!"

He mimicked Izzy and stood waiting to meet his host family. "Welcome home, Koushiro! Your father stepped out to buy some American-style take out for your..." Masami's voice trailed off as she came around the corner from the hall. "Oh my, well, you aren't quite what we were expecting," she said while smiling at Willis.

The boy just laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. Once again, the American did his best to bow properly. "Hello, my name is Willis."

Izzy nodded, giving his mother a nervous but respectful smile. "There was a slight miscommunication," he explained after Willis had straightened himself up again. The boy bowed a little too deeply, but Izzy didn't blame him for trying too hard to be polite. "I hope this correction of misinformation isn't too hindering for you, mom."

"As long as he still likes cheeseburgers," she said.

Willis nodded. "Oh, yes ma'am."

"Good, Mr. Izumi should be home in about twenty minutes with the food. Izzy, why don't you take Willis to your room and help him get settled? Your father and I already set up the futon on the floor. Be sure to show him out to fold up the mattress so it fits under your bed during the day. The quilt can just be folded and put on your bed."

"Yes, mom," Izzy said, nodding his head and leading the way to his room. It was pretty plain, with his bed pushed against the wall, a closet, and now the futon on the floor. The only point of interest was his desk, which was overflowing with computer parts, wires, papers, and other various bits and pieces that all contributed to one mess that was spreading all around his computer, which was whirring as it flashed the completion of a bunch of downloads Izzy had started before he left the house for the cafe. "So, you'll be sleeping here," Izzy explained, motioning to the futon. "Unless you have a problem with sleeping on the floor?"

"Are you kidding? This is awesome!" Willis dropped his over-sized duffle on the floor, put the backpack carefully on Izzy's bed, and then flopped down onto the futon. "This is like the full Japanese experience, right? I thought everybody slept on the floor. Are there going to be any festivals while I'm here? Could we go? Would we get to wear kimonos? Wait... Do boys wear kimonos? And I want to eat from a bento box! Ahh!" He wriggled with excitement. "There is so much I want to do!"

Izzy looked a little floored by the boy's behavior. He'd, of course, never thought of his home as anything more special than the next place. But Willis was acting like it was amazing. "Uh, well, I dunno," he answered honestly, shuffling his socks against the wood floor.

When he saw the nervous and slightly put off reaction the other boy had, Willis' enthusiasm died down rather quickly. "Wow, sorry, I bet I sound like a total loser, huh? Like a stupid tourist. I just... I am a kid in a foreign country. I wanted to do all this stuff I had read about or seen on the travel channel."

"Well, I guess it makes sense," Izzy said with a slight laugh, sitting down on the floor next to Willis. "We can do all of that stuff, if you like. You're here for a while, anyway, we might as well make the most of it, right?"

"Yeah!" he said, seeming excited again. "And I still want you to show me all the cool techy places too."

"Trust me, I will," Izzy said with a smirk. "It wouldn't be a proper trip without visits to all of the tech places."

Willis nodded. "Totally. Oh, um... Do you have a heating pad?"

"Heating pad? Why?"

He shrugged, glancing away briefly. "Sometimes I get stomach aches at night."

"Oh, okay..." Izzy said, looking at Willis with a calculating gaze before looking at his socks. "I'll ask my mom after dinner, I'm sure she'll have something like that."

He nodded. "Thanks..."

"Koushiro! Willis! Dinner is here!" called Mrs. Izumi. There was even more confusion to be had by Izzy's father when they emerged from his room, but a bit more explaining and oddly enough apologizing on Izzy's part, and soon they'd all sat down for dinner, even if it was just cheeseburgers and fries. The conversation mostly revolved around Izzy's parents wanting to know more about Willis and suggestions for what the boys could do, but the family kept away from the topic of them having thought their son finally got a date with a pretty girl. It seemed the air was cleared and everything was fine. Soon the boys were back in Izzy's room, Willis with the heating pad that Mrs. Izumi had provided for him and Izzy still working on the gigantic soda his father had gotten him.

Willis laughed as he watched Izzy try to gulp down the soda. "You know, you don't have to drink it all in one sitting." Having had the extensive conversation with the Izumi family at dinner, Willis had picked up on the proper formation of contractions, but his speech was still careful and a little broken. "Just put it in the fridge for tomorrow. What time are we getting up?"

"Nah, I'll get through it," Izzy insisted, sitting the huge cup between his legs. "I always get huge sodas. Good for when you're working late into the night." He looked at the clock, and then shrugged, looking back at Willis. "Whenever. You just got here, so let's put off the project for a day or two and I'll just show you around whenever we get up."

"Sounds good." Willis held his backpack between his own legs which were set pretzel style. He was nibbling on the ginger cookies Mrs. Izumi had also given him, saying they would help his upset stomach. "Your parents are really nice. Your mom is pretty and your dad seems funny. I like them. My dad is a big sports buff and mom works as a manager at a clothing store."

"Yeah," Izzy said, smiling and leaning back against his computer chair after making sure it wouldn't roll out from underneath him. "I'm really lucky to have them, that's for sure."

Willis yawned then. "Sorry, jet lag. Would it be okay if I got into my pajamas?"

"Go for it," Izzy said, lifting himself up into the computer chair from the floor and spinning around to check his computer, which had started beeping at him for something.

Willis crawled over to his duffle and dug through its contents in search of pajamas. Eventually he found the simple white wife beater he had so conveniently packed at the bottom of the duffel. He took off his jeans and shirt, folding them neatly, and threw on the white tank. Willis then resumed his place on the futon in his shirt, boxers, and socks. "So, did you build that system by yourself?"

"Yup," Izzy said, slurping on the soda that he held in one hand as he navigated his windows with keyboard commands with the other. "I like building my own computers. Lets me use my own code and make everything work the way I want it. Besides, I needed a lot of space for all of my programs." He tapped the computer's tower with his foot. It was stashed under the desk but was big enough to dominate half of the table space if it had been on top.

"That's a beautiful piece of machinery, Izzy." Willis laid back on the futon, propping one leg over the opposite knee, and put his arms behind his head. "You should see my special lady. I custom built her just for me. Black exterior with six fully functioning, automated fans and neon blue side lighting. She runs like a wild cat, but purrs like a kitten. Right now she runs on 12 gigabytes, but I might have to expand after my next compilation. Either that, or I build her a sister so they can share the space. 7 gigs in each, yeah? Maybe 10. I'll have to see."

"Oh, you make them fancy," Izzy said, "Mine looks pretty run down, but that's just the shell. I've taken my first computer ever and rearranged more times than I could count." He looked over at Willis, saying, "I didn't know you were into this, too."

Willis shrugged. "I kind of have a knack for it. I figured being a technical engineer, I might want to know how to put a computer together. First I just started off taking them apart and putting them back together. Learning the basics. Soon enough, though, I was making my own. Small to start, but then they just got bigger and better."

Izzy just sort of smiled slightly, leaning back in his chair in a sort of slouch like he'd been knocked back by what Willis was saying. It was just so amazing that someone could be so like him and yet from a totally different part of the world and, therefore, so different. "Wow," he said, obviously impressed, shaking his head at himself before he occupied his mouth with sucking up soda again.

Willis smiled shyly and blushed, looking down. "Heh... Nerd alert," he said in English. Obviously he was embarrassed now.

"I know enough English to know what that means," Izzy said around his straw with a laugh, turning back to his keyboard and tapping a few more things in, smiling when the screen changed and a few bars appeared, the numbers on them slowly ticking up. He turned off the monitor and then spun back to look at Willis. "I think that's really awesome, but I'm pretty biased," he said with another laugh, seeing how embarrassed the other boy was and getting nervous himself in turn.

He seemed confused. "Biased?"

"Y'know," Izzy prompted, gesturing to the overflow of wires on his desk. "It'd be kind've weird if someone like me didn't think you were pretty cool."

"Oh, right, yeah." Willis smiled. "You're pretty cool too, y'know, for being a tiny, red-haired, Japanese kid," he said with a laugh.

Izzy leaned over and pushed Willis' shoulder with one hand, laughing and saying, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. You know all us blond hair, blue-eyed, American guys say stupid crap all the time."

Izzy smirked and leaned back in his chair again, "You never said anything stupid online, that's for sure."

"Yeah... I find it easier to be smart when I write than when I talk, y'know?" The boy grinned crookedly. "Writing gives me time to think of all those egg-head words people expect from me. When I talk, well... It all just comes out my mouth and I don't sound much like a genius anymore. Sometimes it puts people off. Mostly the board directors."

"I have the exact opposite problem." Izzy grumbled into his straw. "Often times people don't understand a word I say and I need to explain my own vocabulary to them."

Willis laughed. "We just need to fuse ourselves together and make one ridiculously smart kid."

Izzy laughed as well, "I'm sure we could devise a way to execute that undertaking."

"Our brain power would be far too epic for mere mortals to comprehend," the boy said shaking a fist of power.

Izzy couldn't help the grin that cracked over his face, "If that's the case, it may be in the best interest of society for us not to merge our likenesses."

"Or at least wait until we've perfected a plan in which we would either aide society, or take it over. Whichever we're in the mood for." Willis laughed, but another yawn cut him short. "Wow, sorry. My bedtime was three hours ago. Guess I'm going to have to get used to these new hours."

"You can head to bed early if you want. You'll get used to it eventually." Izzy said, running his fingers through his hair. "It wouldn't be too bad of an idea for me to get to sleep early, either. I haven't managed much in the past few days."

Willis laughed. "You and I will be geeking out so much that we won't have time for sleep come the next couple of days." He pulled back the quilt and crawled under its warmth, settling his head on the pillow he'd also brought with him. Hypoallergenic as was sensitive to his needs. He set the backpack by his head and yawned again. "Night, Izzy. Thanks for letting me come out here to see you."

Izzy laughed weakly, flipping off the light so only the faint glow of lights on the computer tower broke through the darkness of the room. He simply discarded his pants and button-up shirt to sleep in his boxers and t-shirt. He sat on his bed and fell backwards on top of the covers, hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. "Yeah," the boy said, nodding, "Thanks for coming."


	4. Collaboration

The boy had dedicated to playing possum for about an hour until he was sure Izzy had fallen asleep. Willis sat up, throwing back the quilt, and grabbed for his backpack. "Sorry," he whispered as he opened the zipper. "I would have gotten to you sooner, but things kept happening." Very carefully he pulled out a large yellow egg with pink markings. Willis cradeled it close to his chest with one arm as he crawled to Izzy's closet, hoping he could find a shoe box or something to put the egg in. "I'll make you a nice warm nest. Don't you worry," he said to the egg.

Izzy, however, wasn't a very heavy sleeper. He heard the rustling and the whispering, and he'd soon cracked an eye open to see the blond boy hunched over and digging through his closet. "Hey, um," the boy asked in a husky sounding, half-asleep voice, "What're you doing?"

Willis visibly flinched and froze. His head turned slowly to look over his shoulder with a nervous laugh. "N-Nothing, go back to sleep," he stammered in horrible Japanese. Izzy frowned, and got off his bed, crawling over to Willis to try and crane his head over the boy's other shoulder to see what he was doing. He shoved the egg under his tank, only to create an awkward bulge in the white fabric. "I was just, uh... Looking for more blankets. I thought there would be some in here."

Of course, the unfortunate thing about rooming with Izzy was that he wasn't gullible in any sense of the word. "What's that?" he asked, nodding his head to what the boy was hiding.

Blue eyes glanced down at the round shape and then back at Izzy. "A... toy?" he offered with a grin.

"Then why're you hiding it?"

Willis nibbled on his bottom lip. "I dunno... 'Cause?"

"C'mon Willis, we can't start this off by keeping secrets from each other." Izzy said, his frown deepening a bit.

The American boy sighed. "Yeah, okay, I know... But if I show you, you have to promise not to freak out. And you can't tell anyone, got it?" He looked Izzy square in the eye. "You have to keep it a secret. Swear?"

"Promise," Izzy said with a nod.

"Cross your heart and hope to die? Stick a needle in your eye?"

Izzy quirked a brow, "Uh, yeah, sure."

Willis watched the redhead closely before letting out another sigh. "Okay..." Very slowly he drew the yellow and pink egg out from under his shirt. He didn't hold it out for Izzy to take or get a real good look at, but rather held it closely in his lap. "See?"

"A DigiEgg!" Izzy gasped, the words slipping out as he immediately recognized the oversized egg. Of course, he hadn't meant to do that and slapped a hand over his mouth.

Now it was Willis' turned to be shocked. "You... You know about DigiEggs?" he asked, but drew the egg even closer to protect it. "How?"

"Uh, well," Izzy stammered, moving his hand away from his face, "I'm kinda... one of the chosen children of Japan."

"You are?! Oh!" Willis snapped his jaw shut to keep himself quiet. "Then you have a Digimon too? How many do you have? Is it here with you? Have you ever been to the Digital World? What's it like? Are there other chosen children here? Can I meet them? Do they have Digimon?"

"Whoah, whoah," Izzy said, holding his hands up. "Slow down. First off, I have one Digimon, and he's not here, he's in the Digital World. And yes, I've been there. I was trapped there when I first went, before we figured out how to work the Digital Gate."

Willis hugged his egg and fidgeted with excitement. "What's your Digimon's name? Why isn't he here? Don't you take care of him?"

"His name is Tentomon, and he's keeping watch over the Digital World right now. I can't figure out how to get him through to here because my Digivice doesn't seem to react to the Digital Gate. Only the D-3s that some of the other Digidestined have seem to work."

"Oh..." The boy didn't seem to understand much of what Izzy said. He knew little about Digimon beyond his own. "This is Kokomon," he said and held up the egg proudly. "Terriermon and I have been waiting for him to hatch again. I've been taking really good care of him. I wanted to make a nest for him. That's why I asked for the heating pad and went through your closet, sorry."

"Kokomon..." Izzy said, tapping his chin. "That name sounds familiar... someone must have mentioned it to me... oh, it was Davis!" The boy suddenly exclaimed, then lowered his voice to a hush again, "Do you know him?"

Willis nodded. "Yeah, he and a bunch of other Japanese kids with Digimon crossed paths with me back in Colorado. They helped me cure Kokomon of a virus. So I take it you know Davis too, then?" He laughed. "Small world."

"Well, yeah. I know all of them. They're the new team of Digidestined, and I was the one that let them first get into the Digital World through the gate."

His eyes lit up with excitement. "Do you think I could go to the Digital World? Maybe we could go together. Would that work, Izzy?"

"I'm not sure." Izzy said, looking at the other boy, "Do you have a Digivice?"

"Uh-huh. I brought it with me in case Kokomon hatched and he needed it to do stuff." Willis rifled through his duffle in search of the device. He found it and pulled it out to show Izzy. Unfortunately, the Digivice was the same small grey model as those of the original chosen children. "Will this work?"

"Probably not," Izzy said with a sigh. "I think the only time we've ever gotten into the Digital World with one of those was one time with Tai, and it was a total fluke. We can try, though, but I can't guarantee anything."

"Oh..." Willis was obviously disappointed, but he smiled regardless and shrugged. "That's okay. I guess it just wasn't meant to be." He began to pet the egg gently. "As long as I have Kokomon and Terriermon, I'm happy. Plus it's really cool that I got to meet one of the original chosen children. You just keep getting better and better, Izzy."

Izzy smiled sheepishly. "Thanks, uh... there's eight of us in the original group, if you want to meet the others," the boy said, only to instantly regret it. They thought he had a girlfriend coming over from America, not Willis. Kari and TK would probably recognize him and Tai would probably kill himself laughing. "I mean, if we can get a hold of them. We're all sort've spread out, but um, they're around."

Willis nodded. "That's cool. Hey, will you hold Kokomon for me? I saw a box in the back of your closet that would be perfect."

"Yeah, sure," Izzy said, carefully taking the DigiEgg into his arms. "Man, I haven't seen one of these since our last day in the Digital World."

"Is that where they come from?" Willis crawled into the closet and could be heard shuffling things around. "Kokomon and Terriermon were in the same egg that came out of my computer. My Digivice came out with the egg. I kept them warm in an incubator I made using an old fish tank, dish towels, and a heat lamp I need for the winter time." He crawled back out holding a large, shallow cardboard box that may have been used to mail computer parts. "Probably sounds dumb, but I would read to them and let them listen to music. I figured it would make them smarter when they hatched. Y'know... like babies before they're born."

Izzy smiled slightly, rubbing the egg. "That doesn't sound dumb. I probably would have done the same for Tentomon if I had him when he was an egg. But when I got to the Digital World, he was already hatched and waiting for me."

Willis looked at Izzy, watching him rub the egg. It was actually kind of... cute. The blond smiled and let out a gentle puff of laughter. "You look good like that."

Izzy looked up, surprised. "Really? I just thought it was natural to stimulate the egg with body warmth," the redhead said, the point of the other boy's comment totally going over his head.

Willis snickered. "Yeah?" He then nodded. "Okay, yeah." Willis set the box aside and crawled to sit right up against Izzy, pressing their bodies together so the egg could be held cozily between them. "So then twice the body heat would be even better," he said in a whisper.

"W-well, yes, I'd assume so..." Izzy said, sounding a little taken aback. But he eventually smiled again, looking down at the egg held between them, still rubbing the pastel colored surface.

Willis liked that look on Izzy's face. Seeing that expression made him feel warm inside. To be honest, it didn't bother Willis all that much for Izzy to not be a girl. Even though he would never admit it to anyone, the boy had been bi-curious for a while now. Exploring new thoughts and feelings in private. Right now, Izzy was looking really cute with that head of fuzzy red hair and Asian brown eyes. Willis couldn't wait to spend more time with Izzy. "We'll hatch Kokomon in no time," he said, not giving any evidence of his real thoughts at the moment.

Izzy grinned, nodding. "Yeah, no doubt. Collaboration is... always more effective," he said, looking back up at Willis. His dark eyes came to look at the blue ones, only to just as soon glance down at the egg. "I-If we stay up too long, we're never gonna wake up tomorrow," he said quickly.

The blond boy just nodded. He took the egg from Izzy. The heating pad was placed in the bottom of the box, covered with a towel from his duffel, and then Kokomon's egg was gently laid inside. Willis put the box back in the closet so that Izzy's parents wouldn't find it. "Night," he said once more before curling up on the futon.

Izzy felt strangely cold when Willis moved away. But, he still got up and went over to his own bed, but this time got beneath his sheets and blanket instead of laying over them. "Yeah, night."


	5. Hard Time Adjusting

Izzy woke up first the next morning, which he supposed he understood. Willis was probably still messed up from jet-lag. The redhead sat up in bed, smoothing down his messed up hair as he glanced over at where the blond was still sleeping on the floor. Dark eyes watched him for a moment before sweeping away, the boy nibbling on his lip as he swung his feet onto the ground and stood up to head over to his closet and start getting dressed, pulling off his shirt and searching for a fresh one for the day. He figured he'd let Willis sleep in until he woke up on his own, since he still had to get adjusted to the time difference. Willis slept over an hour after Izzy got up. When he finally did wake, he was at first confused about where he was. Blinking a few times and letting his brain catch up allowed him to remember that he'd come to Japan. He crawled to the closet to check on his DigiEgg, which was fine, so he got up and wandered out into the living room. Willis saw Izzy on the couch with his laptop. He wandered over, scratching the back of his head and mumbled in English, "Coffee?"

"Huh?" Izzy asked, looking up and quirking an eyebrow. The pronunciation threw him off, but the word was similar enough to its Japanese counterpart that after a second he understood. "Oh! Yeah, I've got a pot going. It'll be ready soon," he said, nodding.

"Uhh... Ohayo? Or aftern- uuah... hirosugi? No, iie... hirusugi?" Willis groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. "Jikoku? Time? What time is it? Jikoku?"

"Almost noon," Izzy said, unable to help the smirk that came over his face. He couldn't deny that Willis' accent was pretty funny. "But it's still the morning," he said, as he set aside his laptop and stood up to lead the way into the kitchen to check on the coffee.

Willis could barely function back home without his morning coffee, so trying to speak Japanese just after waking up was near impossible. He couldn't form coherent phrases or sentences to save his life. "Pasokan mise?" he asked, just putting the two words together hoping Izzy would understand. "Konpyuutaa shooten?" Izzy cast the blond a strange look, now unable to tell what he was saying. He was soon pouring the coffee into mugs and turned to offer one to the other boy. He understood the plight of not being able to think clearly without one's morning caffeine. He took the mug gratefully and practically swallowed it in one gulp. The energizing hazelnut goodness was soon rushing to his brain and all the wires were connecting once more. "Computer store?" Willis finally asked properly. "Think we can see one today? I need parts for a new model I'm building and I figure I can get them cheaper here without shipping fees and junk."

"Oh! Yeah, sure," Izzy said, nodding. He had his own coffee cup gripped in both of his hands and lifted it to his lips again to take small sips of the halfway finished drink. "We can do that. Sorry... your accent gets hard to understand sometimes," he said with a quiet, nervous laugh.

"I'm not very good. I know," Willis sighed as he poured another cup. "I'm working on it."

"You're still better than most Americans that come here," Izzy said quickly. "A lot of them don't speak Japanese at all and they have those little books with the pictures of important places in them for them to point to."

"Yeah, I got one of those, too..." he said with another sigh. "Sorry, I'm gonna go shower." Willis trudged off to the bathroom. Ever since he'd met Izzy yesterday, the blond was afraid he was the last type of guest the redhead wanted around. He wasn't the girl Izzy was expecting, and he was probably just seen as another stereotypical blond American fan freak. Willis really wanted to be friends with Izzy, but despite how much they had in common, he was just telling himself it wouldn't work. A sigh also escaped Izzy's mouth after the blond had left the room. He hadn't meant to offend him, it was just so hard when he knew so little about him. Izzy finished his coffee and went back into his room to put on the rest of his outfit; green socks and purple sneakers that didn't really go with his blue jeans or orange button-down before he headed back into the kitchen to make them a late breakfast, hoping that would put him back on the right foot with Willis. He wanted this to work, he really did. After his shower, Willis went to the bedroom. He had a towel tucked around his waist while the rest of him was still a little wet. He just sort of nodded at Izzy before crouching down over his suitcase in search of something to wear. In the end, Willis settled for a pair of cargo shorts, a Denver Broncos t-shirt, and a pair of strap on velcro sandals. "Oh, hey, um... They'll take my credit card, right?" he asked after getting dressed and fishing his wallet from his backpack.

"As long as it's a major credit card, yeah," Izzy said, sitting on his bed as he waited for the toaster to sound. "We're pretty cash-based, but this place accepts most international cards."

"Well..." he started as he thought. "Can I use it to get cash? You know, at an ATM? I mean, it is a MasterCard, so they would probably take it anyway, but just in case."

"I think that'll work," Izzy said, nodding. Just then, the toaster made a dinging noise from the kitchen and Izzy got up to retrieve it. He'd soon fixed them a late breakfast of toast, eggs, and fruit, and brought the plates back into his bedroom, offering one to Willis. When the plate was taken from him, he held his own with two hands and bowed, saying, "And sorry about before," very politely before he went over to his desk to eat his breakfast.

Willis watched Izzy curiously as he bowed. What was that for? He looked down at his food. It wasn't at all what he was expecting, but maybe that was the problem. Maybe he really was an American fan freak. If that was the case, then Willis felt like he should be the one apologizing. "Why are you sorry?" he finally asked. "I'm the foreigner with false expectations. I'm surprised you even have the patience for me."

Izzy turned around in his chair, looking surprised. "Well... because I offended you," he said matter-of-factly, confused as to why Willis was questioning his apology.

"When did you do that?"

"Just now, when I implied you were the tourist-y type... you seemed upset."

"Only because I thought I had offended you."

"Me?" Izzy asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why would you have offended me?"

Wasn't it obvious? "Because... Because I couldn't talk right and I have a picture book for getting around and I'm not a girl."

"Those things aren't your fault," Izzy said, seeming confused by the notion.

"Well, yeah." Willis shrugged. "That doesn't mean you can't be bothered by them. I'm not what you were expecting. Probably not what you even wanted. For that I'm sorry."

Izzy still seemed confused, but eventually he smiled. "Sure, you're not what I was expecting, but I'm not disappointed. You seem really cool, Willis," the redhead said, as he picked up a piece of toast and nibbled on the end nervously.

The boy chuckled softly. "I sure hope so. This was my chance for a clean start. I really wanted us to be real friends."

"I want us to be friends, too," Izzy said, smiling a bit more.

Willis just nodded. He poked at his eggs for a bit before looking up at Izzy. "Sorry... I'm not really hungry. My system is still all messed up."

Izzy frowned a bit, but nodded in understanding. "I'll put it in the fridge," he said, standing up and taking Willis' plate and heading back into the kitchen to put the plates away for later. He soon came back into the room and gestured towards the door. "I left a note for my parents, so we can go whenever you're ready."

Now it was Willis who looked surprised. "You mean we get to go out on our own?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, there's no school..." Izzy said, scratching at the back of his head. "Why wouldn't we?"

"I'm only twelve and you're thirteen. Who's gonna drive us to the store?"

"We don't have to drive, we can walk," Izzy said, pointing in the direction of the store. "It's just a few blocks down."

The confusion just grew and grew on the boy's face. "Aren't you parents afraid we'll get abducted if we go out alone?"

"What?" Izzy asked, raising an eyebrow. "No? Our neighborhood isn't particularly famous for their abductors. I've always walked to and from school. Almost everyone does. So going out to other places on weekends or breaks isn't a big deal... Why, do they think that in America?"

Willis shrugged. "Well, yeah, because it happens all the time. Unless your school is right around the corner, either bus or your parents take you. And unless you're old enough to drive, parents have to take their kids anywhere we want to go. There's pedos and junkies and whack jobs all over the place just waiting for the chance to snatch a kid."

Izzy frowned a bit. "That doesn't happen so often that we need to be paranoid about it. We can walk."

Willis looked really surprised by this. "Wow, really? I'm barely allowed to even walk to my friend's house, and he lives just down the block from me. But uh, sure, let's go," he said as he got up from his seat. Izzy nodded, and soon the two of them were walking down the stairs from Izzy's apartment and out onto the sidewalk. The redhead gestured in the direction of the computer store. Like he said, it was only a few blocks away, and all around them other children were also going about their daily routines. All Izzy hoped for was that they wouldn't run into anyone he knew. Willis was having a hard enough time adjusting, so the redhead prayed they could go to the store, get Willis' parts, and get back.


	6. Bad Mojo

Blue eyes were on everything around them. Willis hadn't noticed yesterday how many kids really were out and about on the streets. He hardly saw that back home. They passed an outdoor juice bar where a group of lolita enthusiasts were gathered. Willis slowed to a stop when he saw them and took to watching them, staring. One girl in curly blue pigtails with a minature tophat pinned in her hair finally noticed. She stood up, giving him a disgustedly angry face. "Dasai! Mise mono ja nai yo!" she exclaimed for everyone to hear. "What're you looking at, gaki? Maybe you should take a picture, hetchi, it'll last longer." Willis put his hands up defensively, backing up and sputtering for an apology.

Izzy had nearly walked away, not noticing that Willis had slowed down. He heard the girl screaming and looked over his shoulder idly, only to do a double take when he realized it was Willis she was yelling at. He quickly rushed over and laughed out a very weak apology before grabbing Willis by the wrist and dragging him away, the other girls starting to giggle and one of them clapping for her friend. When the two boys got to the end of the block, and Izzy looked over at the other boy and said, "I uh... I wouldn't stare at people, Willis. It's considered pretty rude."

"Well no offense to them," he started while being dragged along, "but maybe they shouldn't go out dressed like that if they don't want to be stared at."

"Willis, them being dressed like that isn't really that strange," Izzy explained. "And staring is rude regardless of who you're staring at."

"I was just looking," Willis mumbled and rubbed his arm. "I wasn't trying to offend her."

"I know," Izzy said with a quiet sigh. "But they don't know that, and therefore they won't understand. It's better to just try not to stare."

Willis nodded, obviously embarrassed. "Okay. I'm sorry." Shoving his hands into his pockets, Willis kept his head down and his eyes on the ground in front of him the rest of the way to the store. He was looking up at the sign for the place when the door opened and he collided with the person leaving the store. "Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Willis said with a bow that was again far too deep.

The taller boy laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's okay. Accidents happen." Dark eyes then landed on the redhead. "Hey, Izzy. What brings you here?" Joe looked between the two boys, frowning just a little, and then something clicked. "Hey... Is this your American friend? I thought...?"

Oh, great. At least it was Joe, Izzy thought. This could have been a lot worse. "Yeah, this is him," Izzy said, laughing a bit nervously as the group side-stepped out of the way of others attempting to enter and exit the store. "There was a slight miscommunication," he explained, before quickly gesturing between the two of them. "Joe, this is Willis. Willis, this is my friend Joe." He just as quickly turned back to the dark-haired boy in front of them. "Willis wanted some parts for his computer without having to pay for shipping costs to America, so we figured we'd stop by."

"Yeah?" Joe shook hands with the younger blond, who again seemed surprised by the gesture. "Izzy said you were pretty tech savvy. I'm just here for batteries for my calculators. Some exams are coming up next week so cram school is working us hard."

"Cram school?" Willis asked with a tilt of his head.

Joe blinked a few times before laughing, hand going up into blue hair he was growing out longer. "Oh yeah. I forget it's kind of specific to Japan. Cram school prepares students for university entrance exams through accelerated curriculum. We can't skip grades in our school system, so cram classes are the next best thing. I go to regular school during the day and then cram school at night."

Willis was stunned. "Wow... You must be really smart, then."

The tall boy just laughed again. "Not as smart as you. Twelve years old and in college already? That's amazing."

"Yeah, well..." He just nodded shyly. "Izzy, is that why you aren't in college? I thought you said it was because you didn't want to be."

"Well, that and the whole grades thing..." Izzy said, shrugging his shoulders a bit meekly. "I could have moved if I really wanted to skip grades that badly, but I didn't want to. I'll just go through the school system normally here. Speaking of," he said, quickly leaving the subject. "How much longer is Mimi here in Japan for, Joe?"

Joe's face lit up a handsome pink just at the mention of the girl's name. "W-Well her dad already went back to New York. She convinced him to let her s-stay here through the end of summer. She uh... She..." He swallowed loudly and pulled on the collar of his shirt. "She's actually staying in my brother's old roo-room."

Willis quirked an eyebrow at Joe's behavior. Leaning in close to Izzy, he whispered, "Girlfriend or crush?"

"Girlfriend," Izzy returned quickly. "Well, that's good to hear," he said, once again speaking at normal volume. "You guys don't get to see each other a lot ever since she moved. I knew you were kinda upset when she held that meeting with all of us because she thought she'd be going back soon after."

"Y-Yeah. I'm really glad she decided to... to stay." Joe weezed and again fiddled with his collar. "Izzy... Izzy, she wears little pink pajama shorts."

Then, Izzy blushed too, looking down at his feet. "I'm not surprised, Joe. She uh... really likes pink."

Willis looked oddly between the two. Not because he suddenly felt forgotten about, but because their dynamic was so strange. Why was this Joe kid that nervous about his own girlfriend? And why was Izzy acting embarrassed about his friend's girlfriend? Did Izzy like this Mimi girl too? That seemed to go against the guy code. Maybe they didn't have a guy code in Japan. "She just came out of her room one morning in them!" Joe blurted. "She had on these little pink shorts and a pink tank top with lacey stuff on the hem. I couldn't believe it! I was already dressed because I thought, well, it was the proper thing to do. But then, listen, she started making me pancakes! With chocolate chips in them!"

"Oh, really?" Izzy said, laughing sort of nervously. He was just trying so hard not to picture any of this in his mind. "I guess that's Mimi for you, always giving, right?" he managed a grin, looking back up. "She's uh, been talking about wanting to get better at cooking lately, hasn't she?" he said, every sentence ending with a weird upwards inflection.

Joe nodded. "Yeah, yeah... She has been saying that, but you know, she's really good it already," he insisted. "Mimi's made crepes, cupcakes, sushi from scratch, all these sauces, and she even made this layered cake! I don't know where she gets it. She's amazing! And..." Joe swallowed, the blush growing darker on his face. "She cooks barefoot," he said in almost a whisper.

"Uh-huh... So Joe, is she waiting for you now?" Izzy asked hastily.

"She was taking ba-b-bath when I left."

Izzy coughed a bit awkwardly into his fist. Seeing the two boys standing there both getting flustered over the mental image was a pretty peculiar sight. "Oh, I see."

"So, I should probably be getting back," Joe said quite suddenly. He turned back to blond and gave a bow of his head. "Nice meeting you, Willis. Maybe we'll all do something later. See you around!" And then he hurried off.

Willis watched Joe go with that same curious look on his face. Blue eyes then shifted to Izzy who still looked lost in his imagination. "Bad mojo, man."

Izzy jumped out of his thoughts and laughed nervously. "It's rather complicated," he explained quickly.

Willis shook his head. "You can't go fantasizing about your dude's chick, Izzy. S'not right. It's like... one of the top ten in the bro code."

"It's not like that, it's just rather uncomfortable when he talks about her in that particular way! It would be for anyone!" Izzy exclaimed, waving his hands quickly. "I mean, I don't like them, er, her, anymore," Izzy said, again coughing awkwardly into his fist before quickly gesturing towards the door to the computer store. "C'mon, didn't we come here for technology?"

The boy just nodded. "Yeah, you're right." He followed Izzy inside and started looking around. Unfortunately, while Willis could speak Japanese, reading it was a whole different thing that he could not do. All the signs and labels were chicken scratch to him. "I need a set of copper memory heatspreaders, two Thermaltake big typhoon heatpipe CPU coolers, some 2GB 800Mhz memory cards, a 500GB Enterprise SATA hard drive, a power sentry 5 outlet powersquid multiplier, and.... Ziotek 4-wire bulk cable." He looked at Izzy with an excited grin on his face. "Think we can find that stuff or anything close to it? Oh! And maybe a tower? A Thermaltake Sopranos RS 101 would be nice. You know the one with the window?"

Izzy nodded as Willis spoke, taking it all in like Willis was reading off a very simple grocery list. He was soon leading the other boy around the store, pointing out various parts and components the blond should consider, leaning over his shoulder to read off the kanji on the labels and even converting the yen into dollars for him so he could consider everything properly. The whole place was two stories tall and packed with stuff, so the two of them found themselves spending hours lingering over parts and discussing them. And finally, finally, the redhead felt like they were connecting.

Willis didn't relate to anyone this well back home. The few friends he had that were his age all liked the same video games, but he would start into the dynamics of the graphics systems, the control, programming, and the mechanics of the systems themselves, only for his friends to shut him out from boredom. His classmates at college weren't much better. They were all about having jobs, finally getting away from their parents, drinking, experimenting with drugs, having sex, and ranting to each other about personal philosophies on life, love, and the government. Willis would try having intelligent conversations with them, but he was still too geeky even for them. Thank God for Izzy. Finally there was another boy his own age who was computer smart and loved to talk about it. Not to mention he was pretty cute, but Willis kept that to himself. Izzy had made it pretty clear on two occassions that he liked girls, so Willis wouldn't even stand a chance if he tried.


	7. Hypothesis

Willis's blue eyes scanned over the pages and pages of notes he'd managed to take today. Ink scribbled front and back on twenty pages at least. The small digital camera was clutched securely in the opposite hand. Willis felt like a kid in a candy store with all the amazing information he'd gathered at the research facility. As smart as Izzy was, Willis never thought he would have such great connections. All it took was one computer lab teacher who was really impressed with the redhead's work, and he was given special guest access to the Droid Research and Development Facility in the city. "Is there nothing you can't do?" the blond asked, looking like an overexcited puppy. The pair were already coming back to Izzy's apartment, but Willis was still stuck on the high.

Izzy laughed a bit as he dug into his shorts pocket for his keys. "I can't successfully compile the necessary materials needed to bring an end to the string theory debate," he joked, as he unlocked the door and swung it open, offering the blond the first step inside as he held it open. Despite their missteps at the beginning of their friendship, Izzy felt better and a lot more comfortable around Willis now. It took a few days of getting Willis accustomed to Japan, a few days of working on their project, and a few days of trying to adjust to each other before they finally reached a comfortable place. Izzy had pretty much learned that catering to Willis' love of technology pretty much was the best way to solidify their friendship, and now he'd hit the nail on the head. Willis just looked so excited and happy. He'd have to remember to thank his teacher a million times over for this.

The boy laughed. "Personally, I don't think anyone ever will. More important things to worry about anyway." Willis kicked off his shoes and scrambled to Izzy's room where he pulled out his laptop and immediately began pulling everything up. "I never thought I'd get to see anything like this in a million years. You guys are so ahead of the curve! I mean... real working androids through the use of simple codes? That's phenominal!"

"I'm glad you're so excited about it," Izzy said as he took off his own shoes and bent over to straighten out Willis' before following him into his bedroom. He stood in the doorway for a moment before heading in, closing the door, and climbing up onto his computer chair to start up his computer as well.

"Aren't you?" Willis asked. "This is such breakthrough material. My professor is going to flip his lid when he reads all of this!" His fingers began quickly typing in the notes he'd taken while the camera was busy loading all the photos. "He might even think I made all of it up, but... I mean, this is the real deal! Oh man, if I don't get an A, there is no justice in this world."

"Of course I'm excited," Izzy responded, sitting on his chair with his arms folded across the top of the back. "I'm just... happy you are too," he said quietly. "It's going to be an outstanding project."

Willis nodded. "Just wait until I tell my friends about this. They won't believe me either. They'll think there's no way some Japanese kid could get me into a place my dad can't buy." He laughed. "I'll rub their noses in it."

Izzy laughed a bit, putting his head in his hand and watching as Willis typed away furiously. "You should have been there when I was first permitted entry. It was prodigious."

The blond boy snickered. "Prodigious? It's okay Izzy, you can say 'cool.'"

Izzy frowned a bit, pulling at his red hair. "I like the word prodigious."

"In what sense do you use it most?"

"Whenever anything amazes me, I suppose," Izzy said with a shrug. "I learned it when I was little and it's a favorite part of my vocabulary."

"Hm..." Willis nodded and smiled, but it wasn't exactly a happy smile. "My family... has a prodigious about of money," he admitted quietly. "It gets me prodigious attention from... prodigious people."

Izzy looked a little surprised. He was quiet for a moment, but soon his socked feet touched the wood floor and he rolled his chair over to the side of Willis' futon. "Yeah?" he asked quietly. "You don't sound particularly ecstatic about that."

"Not when prodigious also means abnormal and monstrous, no," Willis replied.

Izzy leaned forward slightly, not really sure what to say to that. After a few moments, he got off his chair and pushed it back under his desk, turning off his computer's monitor before coming to sit next to Willis on top of his sheets. "Sorry," he finally came up with.

"That's why I never told you," Willis said. "People find out I come from money and suddenly I'm just some little ATM to them. The college is always asking for donations to grants or new buildings. My classmates try to bribe me. If I lend them the money for beer, they'll let me drink it. Even my friends ask me for hits sometimes. I wanted you to like me for me, Izzy, not my money. Sorry if you feel like I lied."

Izzy shook his head at that. "I can understand your apprehension, Willis," he said, smiling slightly. "You're under no obligation to tell me... or anyone for that matter... your financial status. Who you are isn't dictated by what your family has accumulated in monetary gains, and therefore I didn't need to know that in order to create a correct opinion about you." He stopped for a moment, then finally laughed nervously. "I don't care if you're rich, Willis. You're my friend. Okay?" he said, forcing himself to tone down his vocabulary.

Izzy would suddenly find himself in a hug. Willis had thrown his arms around the other boy's neck, hanging about his shoulders. "Izzy, that... That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me," he admitted. "I've been waiting forever to find someone who wouldn't care if I was a freaking billionaire or dirt poor, but just liked me for me. My parents said it would happen eventually, but I was starting to think they were wrong."

Izzy's face was of obvious shock when Willis suddenly grabbed him up in a hug. His face turned a bit red, but after the blond spoke, he smiled and reached one hand around to place it on the other boy's back. "Well, I uh... I'm glad I could be that person for you, Willis."

Willis hung on for another minute or two. He was busy smelling Izzy's neck. Strangely, it smelled like cool plastic on a motherboard, and a bit like clean sheets. Willis wanted to remember the smell. He felt so much closer to Izzy in his heart than he was willing to admit. Sure, he'd finally got the impression that the redhead liked boys and girls, but Willis was still far from ready to risk exposure like that. The last thing he needed to do was tell Izzy he was bi-curious and ruin everything they had built up to this point. Finally the blond pulled back, smiling. "This kinda makes you my first real no-strings-attached friend."

Izzy could finally feel the red that had spread across his face and bit his lip a bit nervously because of it, resisting the temptation to cover his face with his hand. Just act normal... like it wasn't a big deal that Willis pressed so close and held on for so long. "I'm glad we could be friends even after our initial miscommunication," he said quickly, offering a sheepish smile.

"Thinking we were girls, right." Willis laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Crazy..." Except I like you even better as a boy, he wanted to say, but bit his tongue.

"Yeah," Izzy said, also laughing nervously. "I mean, you think guys like us would know to ask that sort of thing, huh?" He only then realized that his hand was still on Willis' back and he pulled it into his lap to clasp it with his other one. "I remember intending to ask you on the first day, but I got so wrapped up talking to you that I completely forgot."

He nodded. "Same thing here. Totally slipped my mind. But uh... I probably wouldn't have been your type. I'm not at all like that Mimi girl you had a crush on."

"Why do you say that?" Izzy asked, looking a little awkward as Mimi was brought up, but more surprised than anything. "You're totally my type! I mean, I wouldn't have been so excited initially or accepted that date online if I didn't think so." Izzy shrugged, saying, "I suppose it must be possible to have various types."

"I... I guess so." Willis was blushing terribly and trying to hide it with little luck. "Um, will excuse me, please Izzy?" He stumbled to his feet, socks slipping on the hardwood floor, and retreated to bathroom out in the hall. The kid had to get himself under control. Some cold water to the face would probably do the trick. He needed anything to work.

Izzy watched the blond run out of his room, leaning over to watch him until he ran into the bathroom and closed the door. The redhead put a hand on his chin and hummed pensively, raising one eyebrow a bit. That was strange. He put the pieces together for a few moments before he got a thought in his head, one that made him suddenly excited. He had a hypothesis to test. He quickly got to his feet, frowning at his socks and stripping them away before he went over to his closet to retrieve his laptop and a pair of orange boxers. He glanced at the door and kicked it closed since his hands were full, keeping an ear out for Willis as he changed out of his clothes and into the clean boxers. He then rather quickly flipped the laptop open and put it at the head of his bed, laying down his stomach and trying to appear as if he hadn't just rushed to get like that.

Willis returned just a short time after. He'd made sure to dry his face really good so Izzy would just think he'd used the bathroom for... bathroom reasons. Frowning slightly at the closed door, he pushed it open, peeking inside, only to give a start. "Oh man, I'm so sorry!" Willis pulled the door shut with himself still outside of it. Did he really just see Izzy in nothing but a pair of boxers? Yes... Yes he did. Crap, he really should have knocked first. Willis took one deep breath after another in an attempt to calm his raging heartbeat. Izzy in boxers. Izzy's skin. Izzy's bare skin. Izzy on the bed... Well, there was no fighting the blush on his face now.

Izzy had looked over his shoulder to catch Willis' reaction, and he couldn't help a smile. Maybe his theory was correct. And if it was... He stopped himself. He knew he couldn't get ahead of himself yet. He had to make sure. He got up and went over to the door, opening it and looking at the blond with a face he did his best to keep looking confused. "What's wrong?"

"I-I-I-I-I... I-I-I... I thought you were changing," Willis finally managed. "I didn't want to uh... To be rude, y'know?"

"Oh, thanks, but I'm going to bed like this," Izzy said, gesturing back into the room.

"Are you..." Willis tugged on the bottom of his shirt. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Izzy asked, frowning a bit. "I can put on pajamas if you really want me to."

The blond was trying so hard not to blush in that moment with blue eyes trained on his feet. "I dunno..." he mumbled.

Izzy watched for a moment before he couldn't stop himself from smiling and put a hand over his mouth to hide it. "I'll put a shirt on," he said decidedly, before turning around to head to his closet to get one.

Willis went in after him, hurrying to his laptop on the floor in order to busy himself with the project. As long as he could keep his mind on other things, he wouldn't be distracted, or tempted, by the redhead. Fingers typed furiously, keys becoming almost hot under the smooth friction.

Izzy looked over his shoulder as he rifled through his closet for a shirt to wear to bed. He felt a little bad about getting the blond all flustered like that. But he just had to be sure. "Sorry," he said, as he looked back to the shirts, sliding the hangers back and forth.

"Not your fault," the boy replied. Izzy would have laughed at the irony if it wouldn't have given him away. Finally, he chose a white undershirt and slipped it on before he went back over to his laptop, laying down. His pillows were shoved under his chest and his feet, making his back curve as he leaned forward to work on his part of the project. Blue glanced over his shoulder to see the attractive curve in Izzy's spine. Willis swallowed. He wanted to trace his fingers down the other's back, lay his head upon it, drape himself over it. "Hey... Izzy?"

"Mhm?" Izzy hummed, looking over at the blond.

He breathed in. The words formed in his head, ready to be spoken... But his tongue stuck in his mouth and his courage died. "Sorry... Nothing..."

Izzy frowned a little, but nodded and turned back to his work. "If you say so, Willis."


	8. The Festival

Another typical afternoon had Izzy clicking around on his computer, and Willis tending to his DigiEgg. But unlike the other days where the two boys scrambled for something to do, Izzy actually had a plan today. "Hey, Willis," he started, spinning around in his computer chair to look at the boy seated on the futon on the floor. "You said you wanted to go to a festival, right?"

Blue eyes snapped up, wide with excitement. "Yeah!" Willis exclaimed. "Is there one coming up? Like with games and food and fireworks and getting to dress up? This will be so cool! When is it?"

"Tonight," Izzy said, leaning back in his chair. "It's called Tanabata. It starts when the stars come out, which... won't be too long from now."

Willis set the DigiEgg back in its warm nest before crawling over to Izzy. He propped his elbows on the other boy's legs and put his face in his hands. "What's Tanabata mean? What's the festival for?"

"Well, it means 'Evening of the seventh'. It's a star festival derived from the Chinese star festival, Qi Xi. It celebrates the meeting of two stars said to be lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi, when they cross the Milky Way, which acts as a river. They can only meet on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunisolar calendar, so that's why it's today and it starts when the stars come out."

The boy could be caught blushing slightly. "Wow, that sounds like one romantic festival. I bet lots of guys and girls go together, huh?" Willis was trying really hard not to think about how he and Izzy were so much like the two stars, crossing the ocean to visit each other. He sat there wishing it could be romantic for them, but that would never happen... would it? Maybe, the boy thought, maybe tonight would be the perfect opportunity to find out. "Are, uh... Are we dressing up?"

"Yup. My mom ran out and got us hakamas." The boy got up and headed over to his closet, taking down two boxes. One he put on his desk, and the other he handed to Willis. "That's the hakama, montsuki, the tabi, and a naga-juban."

"Hakama, montsuki, tabi, and naga-juban," Willis repeated so he could properly learn the words. "Neat! Should I put them on now?"

"If you can figure out how," Izzy said with a grin.

"Hey, I can do it!" he replied with a frown. "Just watch." Willis laid everything out on the futon, looking to make sure he put them all on in the right order. He discarded all of his clothing save for his boxers. First he put on the naga-juban which just served as a white under-kimono. Next he put on the montsuki, which was normally black, but Mrs. Izumi had managed to get his in white. It even sported his family name in Japanese lettering on the back, chest, and shoulder. Third came the hakama which was a saturated sea blue color to match his eyes. This was a bit more complicated to step into and wrap the belts around, but he eventually got it. Lastly he put on the tabi, or simply put, the divided toe socks he would be wearing with traditinal block sandals. Willis ran his hands over his clothes and then beamed proudly. "How do I look?"

"You look... good," Izzy said, grinning slightly. "I'm impressed you got it on." He had soon thrown off his own clothing and slipped much more easily into his outfit. It was the same thing as Willis', except his was orange instead of blue. He soon produced two pairs of wooden geta, holding them up on each of his hands. "With how hard it is to walk in these, we should probably get there by the time it starts," he said with a laugh.

Willis nodded, putting his geta on the floor and just stepping into them. He tried taking the first step, but... "Whoah!" Willis had totally tripped over himself and fell into Izzy, the both of them landing on the bed. Blue eyes looked sheepishly down into brown. "Sorry about that. Guess I need to practice."

Izzy gasped slightly, and gave a very nervous, cracking laugh, forced back on his elbows on the sheets. "Yeah, they're hard to get the h-hang of."

"Yeah..." Willis pushed himself up and then helped Izzy back on his own feet. "Maybe... Maybe if..." He took Izzy's hand in his, waiting for the redhead to catch on, and then they both took the first step together. Willis liked having the other boy to keep balance with. And he liked the sneaky way he found to hold Izzy's hand. "I'm doing it!"

"Yup," Izzy said, grinning in a supportive way. "Once you get the hang of it, it'll be like second nature." He'd help Willis around the room in circles until he was ready to tackle heading out onto the streets for the festival.

Yoshie heard the door to her son's room creak open, so she came out of the kitchen to meet the pair. "Oh my goodness," she said with a smile. "Don't you two just look handsome." She went up to Izzy, licking her thumb, rubbed a spot on his jaw, and then started smoothing down his naturally frizzled hair. Willis watched this while holding back quiet snickers. "Those colors turned out perfect for you boys. I bet you'll stand out in a crowd."

Izzy's face scrunched up as his mom tried to smooth down his hair. Even so, he didn't complain, but rather said, "Thanks for running out and getting these for us on such short notice, mom."

"It was no trouble, Koushiro. Oh!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a white and blue polka-dotted draw string purse. "Your father left this money for you to use at the festival. There's plenty in there for you to do just about everything. Koushiro, remember to show Willis how to play water pong. You two might just win a goldfish. You should get some anpan and melon-pan, and be sure to try the karaage. Don't fill up on onigiri. And absolutely no sake. I don't care if it is a celebration. Stick with teas or even Ramune. Willis, I'm sure you would like the yakitori. Maybe you could even be brave and try the unagi? Remember not to eat too much mizuame or you'll get stomach aches." She smiled and handed the purse to her son. "And if you're lucky, you can get a ride on the ferris wheel just in time to see the fireworks." Willis just stood there with his mouth gaping open. There was so much to do and see, and it hardly felt like there was enough time to do it!

Izzy didn't seem too intimidated, though, and grinned at the other boy as he tucked the purse of coins into his hakama. "Ready to go?" he asked, gesturing towards the door. "It'll be starting soon, and we've got a lot to see."

Willis blinked a few times before shaking his head and smiling a big smile. "Yeah! Let's go!" he blurted in English, too excited to remember his Japanese in that instant. He grabbed Izzy's hand and hurried out the door.

"You two be careful now!" Yoshie called after them, waving. "I love you, Koushiro! Have fun!"

"Thanks mom! We'll be back later!" Izzy called, stumbling after Willis. He followed Willis for a while before laughing and saying, "Willis, you don't know where you're going," before pulling on the blond's hand and leading him in the correct, opposite direction, towards the water.

Willis blushed. "O-Oh, right." He walked with Izzy down toward the water front. Soon he could see balloons flying high in the air. Next he could see banners, streamers, lights, colored tent tops, and hundreds of people dressed up in their festival clothes. "Wow..." he breathed, actually having stopped in his tracks to stare in wonder.

Izzy grinned, putting his hands on his hips. "I suppose it is kind of awe inspiring. Once it gets a bit darker and all of the lanterns go on, it looks even better, especially down by the water where they take advantage of the reflection and refraction of light."

"Wh-What do we do first...?"

"It's up to you, Willis," Izzy said, turning to the blond. "Are you hungry? Do you want to try one of the games? Lead the way, I'm sure something will catch your interest."

"Yeah?" He smiled in a goofy manner. "Okay!" Willis took off again as fast as he could in the block sandals. They played games first. Most were fairly simple like ring toss, throwing balls and bottle pyramids, throwing darts at balloons, and other generic carnival games. They did come to the water pong tent though, which Willis was very excited about. He shoved his last anpan into his mouth whole before paying for three ping pong balls. The first two missed, bouncing off the rim of the bowls, but the last one was a bulls-eye. Willis received his prize gleefully. He even took the time to show Izzy the goldfish which was speckled with black and white on top of bright orange. He won a dark blue, white star patterned pinwheel for Izzy at the next game tent before saying he was hungry again.

"I wonder..." Izzy pondered for a moment before dragging Willis off down the row of tents. Eventually, he found their way to the tents that had steam rising from them, food being cooked fresh inside. The redhead bought them several small samples of everything, most of it served on sticks that the two boys shared between them. As the night got darker and the lanterns became brighter, the whole place was filled with an orange glow that seemed to mirror the warm, happy atmosphere. Games, playing roshambo with a gypsy-esque performer, eating something even though he wasn't quite sure what every ingredient on it was... it wasn't something Izzy usually went out and did. But he couldn't deny that he was having an excellent time. When the two were finally done with food, Izzy's eyes caught sight of the clock hanging inside the tent and gave a start. "The fireworks are going to start! We've got to get to the ferris wheel quickly if we want to get on."

Willis grabbed Izzy's free hand and started to run, laughing as he went. "Then what are we waiting for?!" The boys were lucky to grab the last open swing on the ferris wheel. Willis set his goldfish safely in his lap and showed Izzy how to tuck the pinwheel in his obi for safe keeping. The ride jerked slightly and they were off. Blue eyes watched wide with wonder as they rose into the sky, the festival growing smaller until they could see all of it at once. They passed over the top, but managed to stop not too far from it. Willis could hear people counting down from five and could see men lighting the flares. "This is it!"

Izzy watched as the first firework leapt into the sky, lighting it up a brilliant blue as it made a loud, booming noise. Soon, two purple fireworks were set off on either side of it as the blue sparks fizzled away. He swallowed nervously, his hands starting to sweat a bit. One moved and he nervously touched the tips of his fingers to the back of Willis' hand. "Hey, uh, Willis...?"

"Can I come back again next year?!" he suddenly blurted. Willis was looking right at Izzy with an undeniable blush on his cheeks. He was even breathing unusually heavy for the situation. "I... I want to cross the water again next year and come see my Orihime!"

"I-... I'd like th-that," Izzy managed, a blush coming to his cheeks as well. He paused, feeling his nerves being wracked as he looked at Willis. He couldn't hear his own thoughts over the fireworks exploding behind him. Finally, he placed his clammy hand down on top of the blond's. There was a short hesitation, but Izzy finally leaned in and kissed him.

Willis closed his eyes and pushed back into the kiss. He was actually glad Izzy was so nervous, but where the older boy was quiet and shy, Willis handled his nerves by being loud and to the point. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. This time, though, it clearly worked. When the kiss ended, he pulled back with that goofy smile on his face and said, "I never thought I'd be dating a redhead."

Izzy just let out a shaky, nervous sigh, like a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders. "I never thought that would happen."

Willis laughed sheepishly and rubbed his neck. "You mean kissing a boy?"

"Try my first kiss in general..." Izzy said with an equally sheepish look on his face, eyes averting to his feet as he grinned dazedly.

"So... I guess you don't mind that I'm not a girl then, huh?" Willis coughed awkwardly. "Are you, ah... Are you bi-curious too?"

"I used to be," Izzy explained. "But that was a while ago when two of my friends got together and I wasn't really sure who I was jealous of... but I've figured all of that out and I know I'm bisexual."

"Straight up? That's cool. I... I'm still trying to figure it all out." Blue eyes looked at the redhead fondly. "But I know I really, really, really like you. You're really smart, Izzy. I like your face and your hair and they way they don't quite match. I like all the funny words you use like 'prodigious.' I like how quiet and in control you are, too. You're just... really cool, Izzy."

Izzy blushed, grinning gently. "Thank you, Willis... And I hope I can help you figure yourself out." He finally looked up again, still feeling his heart thumping hard in his chest and hearing it hammer in his ears alongside the fireworks. Willis just laughed again, taking hold of Izzy's hand and giving him a kiss on the cheek. His attention was turned back to the fireworks as a particularly bright gold and pink one went off. It would seem Japan was everything he thought it would be and more. And maybe, just maybe, his Japanese boyfriend would work out better than his Japanese girlfriend did. Izzy smiled to himself, leaning back against the bench and exhaling all of his nerves, his hand holding onto Willis'. He couldn't believe it. Sure, he had thought he was getting his perfect girl. But even when he saw that Willis was a boy, those feelings of admiration and adoration hadn't gone away. But he'd been crestfallen, thinking that when Willis had said that very first day that they could still be friends that he had no chance. And yet, now they had kissed and were holding hands while watching fireworks. For Izzy, it couldn't get much better.


	9. Morning Glory

Willis went to sleep last night floating on cloud nine. When he woke up, he wasn't sure if last night wasn't a dream. Surely going to a traditional Japanese festival and confessing his feelings to Izzy on a ferris wheel while watching the fireworks was too good to be true. Kokomon's egg was more likely to hatch in the nest thirty seconds than last night actually happening, right? Blue eyes looked over at the redhead sleeping peacefully in his bed. Willis smiled. Then again, if last night really did happen, he'd be the happiest boy on earth. Crawling quietly out from under his own blankets, Willis moved to kneel beside Izzy's bed and gently stroked his cheek with one finger.

Izzy made a small sound in his sleep, shifting a little bit before his eyes pried open. There was a moment of silence where deep brown eyes seemed to adjust, one where he looked almost confused as to how he was being woken up. But then a sleepy grin appeared on his face. "G'morning..."

Willis adored that mismatched face. "Good morning," he replied as his finger traced the curved line of Izzy's lips. "I'm really hoping the festival wasn't a dream, or else I'm going to be really embarrassed in the next few seconds."

Izzy's smile grew a bit more. "If you dreamt it, then we had the same dream," he said, laughing a bit as he shifted a bit closer to the blond under his sheets. "And I'm pretty sure that's statistically impossible."

"Try virtually," Willis added with a soft laugh of his own. "Now I just have to hope you still feel the same way and that you didn't just get swept up in the moment."

Izzy's eyes closed as he now yawned, starting to speak before it was completely over. "And unlike dreams, I know hopes can be shared," he responded, blushing a bit as his eyes opened again.

Willis just smiled. "How about this?" The boy leaned in to place a soft kiss upon Izzy's cheek, allowing his lips to linger before pulling back.

When Willis pulled back, he'd see that Izzy's face had lit up like a Christmas tree. He shifted a bit more and propped himself up on his elbow, still smiling nervously as he got onto Willis' eye level. "S-so, uh..." the boy started, scratching at the back of his neck with his other hand. "Are... does this mean we're dating now?"

"If we want to be," he answered with a nod. "I want to be your boyfriend, Izzy. What about you?" Willis couldn't help reaching out to stroke Izzy's cheek again, loving how smooth it was and the pink color dusted across sandy skin.

"I'd like that too," Izzy said, leaning into Willis' fingers a bit. "I really would... I was too scared to admit when you said we could just be friends that first day that our miscommunication didn't change the way I felt," he admitted with a nervous swallow, only for his smile to remerge.

"That's so funny, because I thought the exact same thing." Willis chuckled. "Whatever happened to talking? You'd think two smart kids like I us would think to sit down and talk about something like this. We're only human, though, I suppose."

"Nervousness takes over logic every time," Izzy added. He then laughed gently again. "I suppose I can still introduce you to my friends as my American girlfriend and only be slightly inaccurate."

Willis laughed a bit louder at that. "You could, but I would prefer to be your devilishly handsome, charming, witty, funny, and oh so intelligent American boyfriend," he said in bumping foreheads with Izzy. "And you have to introduce me just like that. Everytime."

Izzy's head pressed against Willis' and he grinned. "I don't think I'll remember all of that. I'll just stick with your name and let them experience the rest for themselves."

Willis groaned playfully. "I guess that's okay, then. When exactly do I get to meet your friends? I met one, right? That Joe guy?"

"Yeah, Joe's one of them," Izzy said with a nod. "The rest..." He hummed slightly. "We all live pretty close by, so I'm sure we'll run into the rest sooner or later..."

Willis grinned. "You know what I think? I think you should get them all together in one place so you can introduce me to them all at once. And then I can come bursting in and act like a huge queen, just to throw them for a loop."

Izzy snickered a bit, but shook his head. "I don't think that's such a good idea," he said. "If we did that, Taichi would just catch on and try to out-do you and everyone else would just sort of be lost. I think it'd be better if we just waited until we ran into them."

"You've mentioned this Taichi kid a couple times," Willis observed. "I can't figure out if he's a friend or someone you put up with?"

"He's definitely a friend," Izzy said, now sitting up in his bed. "But he can be a handful sometimes," Izzy added with a slight chuckle. "But for every time that he's embarrassing or a pain there's five times he's an amazing friend and great leader," the redhead concluded with a nod to himself.

Willis crawled up into the bed and shimmied in next to Izzy. "So tell me about the others. I can tell Joe is really smart and a really nervous guy. Mimi sounds like a pretty girl, but that's all I can figure."

"She's also a bit over-dramatic," Izzy added with a bit of a tired smile. "But Joe is too... except he gets worked up over tests and she does over her clothes. But she's also really sweet." He then lifted his hand up, putting down a finger for each friend he listed off. "There's Kari, who's also really nice but takes on more than she can handle a lot of the time... Sora's like a mother figure. She's also a good friend but she's quick to get tough with anyone who goes over the line. TK's a good kid, always looking out for everyone else. And Yamato's the cool guy in the group, y'know? He's in a band and he's always calm no matter what."

The blond boy grinned. "So he's like the Fonzie of your group?"

At that, Izzy raised an eyebrow. "The who now?"

"Oh... right. Um..." Willis bit his lip while he thought how to explain this. "See, there was this TV show called Happy Days back in the 70s, and there was a character on it named Fonzie. He was the really cool guy. He was Italian-American and wore a leather jacket with his hair greased back and he rode a motorcycle. Fonzie would do this thing where he said, 'Eyyy!' while snapping his fingers and making a thrust-forward double thumbs up. Oh! And he coud fix a broken jukebox just by hitting the side of it with his fist! Fonzie never got mad about stuff. He was the cool guy." Willis smiled and shrugged. "Kinda like Danny in Grease, too."

Izzy just scratched his head, tempted to ask who the other guy was too, but he decided to just let it drop. It was one of those cultural things that he just didn't know about when it came to America. Izzy could tell you all about their technological advances, but he didn't know a thing about their pop culture. "Well uh... yeah, Yamato's like that... sans the 70s American style and the motorcycle."

Willis grinned and nodded. "Cool, cool. And.... Taichi is dating Yamato?"

Izzy nodded. "For the better part of the time we've all known each other." He laughed then, pulling at a lock of red hair. "But don't try and explain that to Mimi. She still doesn't get it."

One blond eyebrow arched upward. "How can you not know your friends are dating each other?"

Izzy shrugged his shoulders. "Mimi... just doesn't get things sometimes. For all of her kindness she can be a little thick."

"Oh, I see. I've known some people like that." Willis smiled again and rested his cheek in Izzy's frizzy hair. "I'll do my best to keep it under wraps, then."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. They openly flirt suggestively in front of her and she stays oblivious." He smiled, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the feeling of Willis leaning against him. "But her obliviousness is endearing rather than annoying, like it is with most girls. I suppose because she doesn't make a spectacle of it, y'know?"

"Blissfully ignorant? Sometimes I wonder what that's like." Willis moved to wrap his arms around Izzy's waist. "Did you ever figure out how to just... turn your brain off? I've heard it can be done, but I've never managed it. I always wanted to experience something like that."

Izzy blushed, his toes curling in his socks, which he didn't take off when he slept, as Willis pulled him closer. He kept his eyes shut as if opening them would know him that he was just imagining all of the touches and the arms wrapped around him. "I don't think I'm capable of doing that, either," Izzy said, shaking his head a bit. "My mind is constantly running. It's part of the reason I usually have trouble getting to sleep."

He nodded. "What's it like for you?" Willis asked. "My brain is like... a million electrically charges hamsters running in wheels that power this high energy reactor. I can feel all of them running all at once all the time. I'm afraid that if just one trips, my whole system will short circuit and I'll... I dunno... Break?"

"Mine is a computer program," Izzy said with a definite nod. "Everything runs perfectly and seamlessly... the way it's supposed to." He then glanced up at the other boy. "But some people know how to change the code and make it malfunction."

Willis laughed. "Yeah, but I'm not such a bad virus, am I?"

"You're that program that somehow installs itself, but you keep anyway because it turns out to be beneficial," Izzy responded with a tiny grin.

"I'm just glad I won't be deleted." Willis fingers stroked Izzy's arm. "Do you ever try to think about too much stuff at once? Like you think you're smart enough to handle it, but then your brain gets kinda hot? Like an engine that's running too hard."

"I can't recall a time like that," Izzy said, shaking his head. "But one time, in the Digital World, I got my mind taken away from me," he said, lifting a finger into the air in front of his face as he recalled the event.

Blue eyes went wide. "Nu-huh!"

"Ya-huh," Izzy responded. "I fell into this pit that was apparently an entrance to a universe created by a Digimon named Vademon. And he would have dropped me down that bottomless pit if I didn't relinquish my curiosity, which he planned to pawn off in his shop. According to Tentomon, I became a brain-dead zombie without it."

"Woah... That sounds horrible." Not realizing it, Willis drew the other boy in a bit closer. "I can't imagine what that must be like. I mean... there's a difference between turning your mind off and losing it all together. And how scary is it to know someone could even take it from you in the first place." He looked down at Izzy then. "How did you get it back?"

"Pabumon... that is, Tentomon's baby form... he snapped me out of it," Izzy said, finally pulled so close he was pressed against Willis' chest. Despite the blush red enough to rival his hair, he settled into the embrace. "He helped me find the door to the pawn shop in the middle of that universe, even though all of his energy was drained." Which was another point he felt he had to explain. "See, my crest is the Crest of Knowledge. I found out later that each of our traits helped give the Digimon their power. And since mine was Knowledge, without my curiosity and desire to gain more knowledge, Tentomon was forced to degenerate into his baby form."

"That's really sad..." Willis sighed. "But it's really cool that Pabumon was able to help you like that. He sounds like a really good Digimon."

"He's great," Izzy said with a smile. "He was probably my first friend. If it weren't for him, I'd still live in my laptop." He paused for a moment, then smirked. "As opposed to going on vacation in it for several hours a day."

"A little vacation is good for you," Willis insisted. "Keeps you feeling refreshed."

"Have you been enjoying yours?" Izzy asked.

Willis grinned ear to ear. "Totally!"

Izzy grinned as well. "I'm glad." That's when he heard shuffling and doors opening and closing in the apartment and he sighed quietly. "Family's up."

The boy grinned sheepishly now. "I don't suppose you're the type of kid who is completely honest and tells their parents everything?"

"Usually I am..." Izzy said quietly, fingering one of Willis' arms nervously. "But I have made exceptions when the need arises." He then looked up at the other boy. "Would you rather I did in this instance?"

"I... want you to do what you're most comfortable with," Willis answered honestly.

Izzy looked pensive for a moment. "Then I won't tell them for now," he said. "But I will if the need arises."

Willis nodded and smiled. "I'm okay with that. Do they know you're bisexual, though?"

Izzy shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Basically, I tell my parents anything if they ask. But if not, I see no reason to share. My parents are too nice to question my status on dating or anything like that."

"Oh, you're one of those kids. Well you're still better than most. As I understand it, the perfect child is one who tells their parents everything without questions first. But a kid like that is one in a million. You're as good as they get." Willis laughed. "I'm dating a goody two-shoes."

Izzy laughed a bit as well. "My parents deserve a goody two-shoes," he said in a gentle voice, brown eyes traveling to his socked feet.

Willis tilted his head slightly trying to see Izzy's eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Izzy said, smiling again despite his tone of voice. "They really do, though."

"You're a really good kid, Izzy," Willis insisted gently. "I see the way your mom looks at you. She loves you more than the whole world. And your dad is so proud he could burst with it. I bet there isn't anything you could do that would make them mad."

Izzy tilted his head from one side to the other for a moment before concluding with a nod. "Probably not," he said with a smile. "They're great."

"You look so much like your mom," Willis said while petting Izzy's hair. "You have your dad's eyes though, for sure. An adorable grab bag of great features."

Izzy swallowed a bit dryly at that, glancing to the side. "Actually... actually, I'm adopted," he explained quietly.

Willis looked surprised at first, but then he laughed. "You're joking."

Izzy shook his head, frowning a little. "No, of course I'm not."

"Could've fooled me," he said. "Wait, so are you even Japanese? Because I can't help but think you look sort of Irish."

"No, I'm definitely Japanese," Izzy said. "My dad and my biological father are really distantly related, but we're all the same race."

The blond smiled. "Well that's pretty cool. You got to stay in the family. That must be nice. Not many kids get adopted back into blood."

"It sort of... worked out, I guess," Izzy said with a bit of a shrug. "My biological parents died in a car crash around the same time my mom and dad lost the baby they were going to have. So they just sort of... took me in."

Willis' face fell then. Now he understood. He hugged Izzy gently and whispered, "Sorry... I didn't mean..." But his voice fell away in guilt.

"Don't feel bad," Izzy said, shaking his head even as he leaned into the hug. "You couldn't have known, and it doesn't bother me much anymore. As far as I'm concerned, my adoptive parents are my real parents."

"That's a really nice thought. I bet... I bet your parents think the same about you." Willis wiped his eyes. "Wow, look at me. Word of advice: You can't tell me sad stories," he said with a laugh. "I cry over spilt milk."

Izzy also managed a quiet laugh against Willis' chest. "I'll keep that in mind," he said, before closing his eyes and groaning quietly. "It's too early," he said, suddenly changing the subject. Obviously the boy had had enough of depressing stories for the morning and was not so tactfully showing it. "I want to go back to sleep right here."

"Well then... Let's do it." Willis smiled gently and wriggled his way underneath the sheets where he laid down with Izzy pulled up against him. "We can sleep for a few more hours. If I've figured anything about your parents, it's that they don't come into your room if the door is closed, right?"

"Right," Izzy said, seemingly too comfortable to be embarrassed even as he was snuggled close to his brand new boyfriend. Dark brown eyes fluttered shut. "I never even have to use the lock..." He yawned gently, and soon was back to sleep.


	10. Ambush!

"Izzy, your phone is ringing!" Willis called from where he sat on the couch watching television. Even after a week of living at the Izumi's, he didn't feel right answering the phone.

Izzy emerged from the bedroom, shuffling along the wood floor in his socks. As he got closer to the phone, though, he realized it was almost at its last ring and dove across Willis' lap in order to reach the receiver in time, holding it up to his ear as he got comfortable in what he hoped was a subtle manner. "Hello?"

"Ooof!" Willis lurched forward as Izzy's hips landed square in his lap, those scrawny bones digging into awkward places.

The voice on the other end of the line wheezed nervously before speaking. "H-Hey, Izzy, it's Joe."

Izzy looked over his shoulder at the blond and mouthed an apology. "Hey, Joe. What's up, you sound nervous."

"O-Oh, well, Mimi is j-just, uh... She's making one of her sad faces, you know?" The thing about Joe was that he was constantly so nervous and stuttering as a norm, that no one could ever tell when he was lying. "Anyway, um... Mimi was trying to look up r-recipes on the internet, but my computer sort of... stopped working. My knowledge doesn't go much further than unplugging it and plugging it back in, and that didn't work. I was wondering if y-you would come take a look at it."

"Oh... sure, Joe, I could come over and see what the problem is. Should I come over right now?"

"That, uh... That would be g-great, actually. Mimi keeps whining and pouting. I don't know how much more I can take. What?" Joe's voice faded slightly as he seemed to be talking to someone else, but it just as quickly came back in. "Oh, a-and feel free to bring Willis with you. You know Mimi would n-never be the wiser."

Izzy quirked a brow at that, but nodded his head. "Alright, sure, if you're fine with that. We'll be right over."

"See you then!" Joe squawked rather loudly before suddenly hanging up.

"Izzyyyyy," Willis groaned and wriggled under the boy. "Pleeeeease get off meeeee."

"S-sorry," Izzy said quickly, sitting up straight after he put the phone back in its cradle.

Willis let out a heavy, loud sigh of relief when Izzy moved off him. "So, what was that about?" he asked while rubbing his inner thighs. "We goin' somewhere?"

"Joe wants me to come over and take a look at his computer, and invited you to come along. You up for it?" Izzy asked, looking a little embarrassed as Willis massaged the sore spot Izzy had made with his hips. He needed to work on that.

"Totally!" Willis replied. "Joe was kinda weird, but I liked him. It'll be cool to see him again."

Izzy laughed gently, nodding his head. "Yeah, alright. Just let me get some shoes." With that, he got up and went back into the bedroom to slide on some sneakers. He was dressed otherwise, in shorts and a black shirt with an unbuttoned orange one over it, so it was just a matter of footwear. Once he was out in the hall, he waved Willis over to the door with one hand. "I doubt it's anything too seriously wrong with his computer, so I'm not even going to bother with any equipment."

Willis jumped to his feet and trotted after Izzy. "Right, I mean, how badly could he have messed it up? I bet you five yen the fan shorted out and it shut down from heat," he said as he slipped on his own shoes by the front door and followed the redhead out.

Izzy nodded his head as they began their walk towards Joe's house. He didn't live too far away, which was why they went to the same tech store. Once they passed the store where they first ran into the other boy, they were about halfway there. "It's probably nothing too major. I'm sure it'll only take a few minutes," the redhead said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Willis grinned. "No, Izzy... See this is the part where you make a counter bet. Haven't you ever done this before?"

Izzy looked confused, looking over at the other boy and shaking his head. "No, I haven't..."

"Okay, see? I bet five yen on what I think the problem will be. You either take me up on that bet by saying you don't think there is a problem at all, or you offer up a different scenario."

"Oh, uh..." Izzy scratched the back of his neck as he thought. "Personally, I think it's probably a hookup problem, since he said he rebooted it and it still didn't work. So uh... I guess I... bet you that that's the problem."

Willis laughed and nodded his head, patting Izzy on the back. "You got yourself a bet then, sweetie."

Izzy blushed a bit with his own laugh and turned his eyes back on the sidewalk. They were coming upon Joe's apartment building, and Izzy lead the way up. He went to knock on the door, only for Mimi to throw it open before his hand even touched the wood. "Hi Izzy!" she greeted enthusiastically as Izzy hastily pulled his hand back in surprise. She had her pink hair in loose ringlets and it was matched by a pink tank top and white shorts. "You got here fast!"

"Yeah, uh, I'm only a few blocks down," the redhead laughed quietly.

Willis' eyebrows went up at the sight of the girl in front of them. She certainly was pretty. Willis took Mimi's hand in his and kissed her knuckles. "Enchante, mademoiselle," he said in his most charming voice and throwing in a smile for good measure. "You must be the lovely Mimi I've heard so much about. My name is Willis."

Mimi looked surprised at first, but giggled and put her other hand on her mouth. "That's me!" she said, smiling and moving her hand behind her back. "It's nice to meet you too! You... must be Izzy's American friend, then?" she asked, while casting a glance at the redhead, who offered a meek shrug.

"That I am, yes," replied with a nod, releasing her hand and standing up straight again. "I assume that means Joe mentioned me?"

"Actually, Izzy told us about you last time we all got together, before you came," Mimi explained as she stepped back a bit, letting them into the foyer.

One blond eyebrow went up. "Oh really? Then that means you must think I'm-"

"Izzy's girlfriend!" Taichi exclaimed when both boys were finally inside the apartment. Everyone was there, all grins, except Joe who stood in the back looking very guilty. "Wow, Izzy, I didn't think American girls were so butch," he teased and jabbed the redhead with his elbow.

Izzy's eyes went wide when he saw all of the kids in the apartment. And of course, when Taichi approached, he very quickly put two and two together. "Did... was this a set-up?" he asked, sounding astounded at the thought.

"Set-up has such a negative sound to it," Taichi said. "I like to think of this as more of a... Surprise Welcome Party for your friend here. After all, we're your friends too. It only seems fair we get to meet him."

Izzy continued to cast Taichi a look before letting out a defeated exhale, turning slightly to put his brown eyes instead on the other kids. "This is Willis," he introduced, gesturing to the blond with one hand.

Willis threw his arms out to the sides. "Hello, world!" he sang, carrying out his promise of acting totally flamboyant in front of the others, just to get a kick. "Oh-Em-Gee I am so super excited to meet all of you." He came up behind Izzy and draped himself over the other boy's shoulders. "Izzy wanted to keep this his dirty little secret, but I guess cat's out of the bag now. You'd almost think he was embarrassed of me, but that would be silly!" Willis laughed and flicked his wrist.

A lot of the kids were just left staring now. Joe seemed to get it was a joke since he'd met Willis once and the blond was nothing like this, but Joe was never one to be sure of anything. The boys were exchanging weird looks. None of them ever pegged this to be Izzy's type. "Well, it's nice to meet you," Sora finally said with a smile.

"Oh honey, the pleasure is all mine." Izzy had squeezed his eyes shut and was blushing embarrassedly. Kari and TK were exchanging glances as well, having had met Willis before and also knowing what he was up to. But of course, they wouldn't say anything. Kari was getting too much of a giggle out of watching her brother's reaction.

Taichi's mouth was just hanging open as he stood there and watched. Was this for real? "Wow, Izzy, I didn't think you had it in you."

"Oh he has got so much in him I don't know where to start getting it all out," Willis said. "Izzy here is just lucky I came along. Don't you worry sweetie," he teased and pinched his boyfriend's cheek. "We'll have you out being your true self in no time. Speaking of which, Mimi darling, I don't suppose you have any adorable skirt numbers Izzy could practice in? He wants to get comfortable before going out and buying his own, but when he does... Shopping Trip!"

"Ooh!" Mimi squealed, bouncing on her heels, obviously the last one who'd ever catch on even when she had just watched him acting completely mellow a few moments ago. "Definitely!" From the other side of the room, Yamato had put his head in his hand and had leaned forward, watching with a quirked brow as, like his boyfriend, he tried his best to attempt to figure out if this was for real. Even trying to judge by Izzy's completely embarrassed expression wasn't enough.

"You are such a doll! I can tell you and I are going to be BFFs, for sure. Oh! Pardon me, everyone, I need to make a sissy. BRB!" And with that, Willis scampered off to the bathroom.

Again there was silence, long and painful. Taichi felt like his head was going to explode. He wanted to laugh and make jokes, but part of him thought this was for real and knew it would be highly inappropriate. On the other hand, if this was all joke, he didn't want to look like a schmuck for believing it. Finally he leaned over to whisper in Yamato's ear. "I... I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."

"Me either," Yamato whispered back. Izzy had hidden in face in one hand by smacking his forehead.

"I like him," Mimi announced with a smile, folding her hands behind her back. After watching all of that, though, Kari couldn't keep quiet. She had both of her hands clasped over her mouth as she giggled uncontrollably, turning towards TK in hopes that their brothers wouldn't notice her laughter.

Taichi was the last person to miss his baby sister's laughter, though. He heard her giggles and looked over at her only to see TK stifling his own laughter. That's when the light-bulb went off. "It's a trick!" he exclaimed while pointing at Izzy. "You and Willis are trying to trick us so we won't make fun of you!"

"I-I'm not doing anything!" Izzy stammered, immediately throwing his hands up like he was about to get arrested for it.

"Oh, right." Taichi crossed his arms. "Joe can't even lie to a complete stranger. You saw right through that phone call, knew we'd be here, and convinced Willis to put on that act. I'll admit it was clever, but the jig is up now."

"Oh, Tai, relax," Kari said through her giggles, shaking her head. "I really doubt that's true."

"It's not," Izzy groaned, his shoulders slumping. "I had no clue you were all gonna ambush us like this. I thought I was gonna fix a computer," he finished, scratching at the back of his neck.

"Did somebody say computers?" Willis gasped as he came prancing back from the bathroom. "Izzy is such a wiz at computers! I wish I knew at least half of what he knows. Why, when I watch Izzy tinker with a computer, I just get tingly all over," the boy purred and wrapped his arms around the redhead.

"Willis," Izzy said quietly, lifting his hand to point over at TK and Kari, who were giggling, and then at Tai and Yamato, who were looking between them and Willis. He was sure the blond could figure out that they had.

"Oh, guess they found us out, huh?" Willis lifted off from Izzy's shoulders and scratched behind his own neck. "I had a pretty good run, though, didn't I? You guys are really cool for not saying anything," he said to TK and Kari.

TK nodded. "It was too much fun watching."

"So you're not really a girl. You're not the flamboyant kind of gay. Is there anything else we should know?" Taichi asked. While the brunet loved to trick people, he hated to be on the receiving end of such antics. "Are you really even from America? Is your name really Willis?"

"Those last two are true," Kari said with a nod.

"Yeah, they are," Izzy agreed.

"Actually... I told you about him a while back, Taichi. I just don't think you paid attention," the girl laughed quietly.

Taichi frowned. "Wait... You mean this is the same Willis who had the infected Digimon?"

Willis shrugged and grinned. "Guilty."

"Whoa! That story was heavy, man. Hey, did you ever get your Digimon back?"

Willis stopped smiling and looked down. "Kokomon is still an egg. He isn't hatching as quickly as last time..."

"But the egg is still doing well," Izzy said quickly, putting a hand on the blond's shoulder. "I think if the egg has survived this long without going bad, Kokomon's definitely going to hatch again. He just needs to rest."

"That was quite a battle," Kari said with a small nod.

Willis smiled slightly at Izzy, but he was still worried about Kokomon. "He's been an egg for over a month already. When I first got Kokomon and Gummimon, they were only in an egg for about three days."

"How did you manage to get two Digimon anyway?" Sora asked.

"Oh, well... I just… got two. I liked it so much that I tried to have three by making my own. That's how Diaboromon showed up."

Taichi stared in wide-eyed disbelief. "You just made your own Digimon? Cool! You really are good with computers!"

Willis grinned sheepishly, glad for a quick change of subject away from the virus-infected Digimon. "Yeah, but I'm nowhere near the genius that Izzy is."

Izzy sort of hugged himself shyly, though he grinned at what the blond said. "I don't think it's good to compare," he said sheepishly. "I mean, I may be smart, but Willis is already well on his way to graduating college."

"Shut up!" Taichi said in amazement. "There's no way that's true!"

Willis shrugged, looking a little nervous and confused. "Sorry?"

"Kids can't just skip grades like that," Taichi insisted. "If they could, Izzy would be in college."

"They can in America," Izzy explained. "Willis started going to Colorado State when he was near the end of elementary school, right?"

Willis nodded. "Yeah, I had just turned eleven years old. The university almost didn't want to accept me, but then they saw my test scores and they grabbed me up."

The other kids were gaping at the prospect. Even though TK and Kari had met him before, he hadn't talked anything about his social life or academics, leaving them just as shocked as the rest. Now, instead of looking embarrassed, Izzy suddenly felt very proud. Even though it wasn't his own achievement, he felt more like he was sharing it with Willis rather than just watching from across the globe. He couldn't help nervously reaching over and taking his boyfriend's hand as Mimi exclaimed, "Wow, that's amazing!"

The American boy grinned. "I guess it is, huh?" Blue eyes looked at the redhead. "I've even been teaching Izzy a thing for two since I got here."

"You're teaching Izzy something?" Taichi asked, surprised. "But Izzy already knows, like, everything."

"Well, I wanted to teach him so he could someday speak to my parents, but... I guess we can show you guys." Willis looked at Izzy again. "Willing to give it a try?"

"Um, y-yeah, alright," Izzy said, smiling nervously. "What should I say?"

"Just respond to me as best you can." Willis then began speaking in English. He knew the other kids wouldn't understand them very well, if at all, but he got the impression they would be impressed. "Hello, Izzy."

"H-hello, Willis," Izzy responded, his voice already shaky. He was still very unsure of himself and he felt a little silly when he tried to speak English. 'How... uh... are you, today?"

"I am fine, thank you for asking." Willis avoided the use of contraction to avoid any confusion. He went on, smiling warmly at his boyfriend. "How are you?"

The calming, kind expression on Willis' face helped Izzy calm down a bit, even though he was hyper aware of his heavily accented voice as they continued. "I'm... good. I'm, actually, great, um..." He paused, unsure if that was correct, but managed a smile back at his boyfriend when he realized he was actually making sentences rather than just sputtering out random English words. It was a step forward, however small.

Willis nodded. "Where are you from, Izzy?"

"I'm from N-... uh, Japan."

"Japan? I hear it is very beautiful there. How old are you, Izzy?"

"I-it is," Izzy said, nodding quickly. "I'm uh, fourteen old," he said, accidentally forgetting the word 'years'.

"Fourteen years," Willis whispered after leaning in close to Izzy's ear. He then stood back again. "I am sorry, I did not catch that. How old are you?"

Izzy swallowed slightly, but managed, "Fourteen years. Fourteen years old."

Willis nodded again. "It was very nice speaking with you, Izzy. Thank you."

"Thank you," Izzy echoed, nodding his head in a sort of half-bow before he cleared his throat and turned back to the group.

Everyone started clapping when the conversation was finished. They were all genuinely impressed. Izzy managed to talk about himself and offer feelings. Willis smiled at Izzy again and squeezed his hand. "You did really well."

"Thanks," Izzy said, grinning proudly. It was great to have this sort of opportunity. As a kid who'd always enjoyed gaining knowledge, most of the other kids weren't surprised he had accepted the chance to learn a second language.

"So, I guess everything worked out in the end after all," Kari remarked with a smile.

"Yeah," Taichi admitted with a smug grin and a nod. "I guess Willis passes the test."

One blond eyebrow went up at that. "Test?"

"Sure! You pass!" Taichi exclaimed.

Willis laughed. "Figures I would. I never failed a test before. You should have known that about me."

"You know, even if he hadn't 'passed', there isn't a lot you could have done about it, Taichi," Yamato laughed from the couch, smirking as he rested his head in his hand.

"Says you. I'm not the leader of this group for nothing," Taichi bragged.

Yamato rolled his eyes, though he kept grinning. Izzy laughed quietly. "Somehow I don't see myself falling into a bad crowd on a college exchange program website."

"Hey," Taichi pointed a finger, "you never know who's on the other end of something like that. Creepy people go to college too, y'know."

Sora sighed lightly. "Taichi, stop. Willis is obviously a great kid. Leave him and Izzy alone."

"At least he can get a date," the ever-oblivious Mimi giggled at Taichi. Izzy smirked and looked at Willis before gesturing over at Mimi, as if to say, 'See, I told you.'

Willis put his face in his hand and shook his head. "At least she's pretty," he whispered to Izzy.

"Yeah," Izzy laughed quietly, holding it back and just allowing himself to smile.

"Of course I'm glad you moved on to liking folks with a little more know how," Willis teased and kissed behind Izzy's ear.

Izzy blushed when Willis kissed behind his ear, but coughed and laughed as he said, "Well... I never didn't like them." Brown eyes quickly cast their glance at the blue-haired boy standing awkwardly in the back of the room before snapping back to the blond, their quiet conversation going underheard as an undercurrent to what had now become Taichi and Mimi bickering loudly.

Willis watched as the argument dragged on. TK and Kari acted like it was nothing and even laughed a little. Sora and Yamato were trying to get Mimi and Tai to settle down while Joe remained his passive self and out of the way. Finally he smiled at the redhead. "I definitely like your friends, Izzy."

"I'm glad," Izzy said with a small smile and nod.


	11. Willis' Final Vacation Day

Today they were supposed to go to the communal hot springs, but a sudden summer rain put a damper on those plans. So the boys were in Izzy's room, each doing their own things, since that was how they each worked. "There are birds like no other birds because they are not real. ...The bitaba bird." Willis was listening to the click-clack of Izzy's fingers move across the keyboard while holding Kokomon's egg in his lap. "They play tag with the earth and stars on wings of mist and light. ...The bitaba bird." One hand was being used to gently rub the egg's shell while the other held a book. Willis had brought the book with him from America and was one he read to the egg often. "Above the clouds, their crystal eyes sparkle in the blue. ...The bitaba bird." He liked it because it was simple. Kokomon probably wasn't ready for anything advanced, but it was still scientific. "One appears every 100 years on a black a stormy night. ...The bitaba bird. A lightning flash, a terrible crash, and a rock egg splits open. From within come brand new wings of a brand new thing. ...The bitaba bird." When the story was over, he closed the book and set it aside. Willis smiled at the egg for a few minutes, still nurturing it gently, before asking, "Do you think he'll recognize me when he hatches?"

Izzy looked over his shoulder then, his fingers still moving on the keyboard even as his dark eyes came to look at Willis. "I'm unsure if every Digimon retains their memories, and it may be different in Kokomon's case due to what he endured, but..." Izzy finally stopped typing and turned around in his swivel chair, crossing his arms and leaning them on the back, letting him lean forward a bit. "When TK's Digimon became an egg and hatched again, Poyomon seemed to remember him. Because Digimon cannot die, I'm going to assume that their memory is restored upon their hatching. My theory is that the Digimon are not being reborn so much as that they simply need to rejuvenate their strength, like when they devolve after a fight, but have been reduced to such a point that they need the safety of the egg for a while. If that's true, then it would be rather strange for them not to remember."

Willis laughed weakly. "Wow, when you say it like that... Kinda takes all the romanticism out of it."

"Sharing it in a text book manner appeared to be the best way to fully answer your question," Izzy said, as if it was the most simple thing in the world. His socks made a shuffling noise and the wheels of his swivel chair squeaked as he slid over to where Willis was sitting.

"Izzy, do you ever feel like being smart keeps us from... feeling?" the blond asked. "Like... We have to analyze our emotions rather than share and express them, y'know? Like emotions are almost too complicated for us. Do you ever feel like that?"

Izzy ran his fingers up into his red hair, brushing his bangs from his face. "I guess," he said, nodding his head. "I've found that, yeah. It's far simpler to break down the scientific source for a certain feeling than simply go along with it."

"Don't you get tired of it, though? I hear you and understand you when you say Digimon can't die. I do, but... When Kokomon dissolved away like that, it really felt like he was dying. I mean, he was there and then he wasn't. That's death, isn't it? And if he died, then of course he needs to be reborn. I was so sad when Kokomon died that I didn't want to do anything else except tell myself it was just the deterioration of data which needed to be reconfigured in its base form, but... Kokomon was so much more than that. Doesn't Tentomon mean more to you than just data? To say Kokomon just needed to rejuvenate is like saying I need to charge my phone. I can't just plug this egg into an outlet. I have to take care of it."

Izzy looked perplexed by the notion. "Of course Tentomon means more to me than just data. But that doesn't change the fact that he is made up of it." He leaned a bit further forward on the back of the chair. "Yes, Digimon are more complex in the fact that they retain personalities and memories unlike any data based program. They are living, which adds to their complexity, but you can't change the fact that they are data-based life forms." He tugged at one of his short frizzes of red hair. "I suppose you could call it death when their data dissipates and is scattered, but it's an incredibly harsh outlook to have on the situation, so I don't see why you would want to. I personally would find it far more comforting to know that if Tentomon ever did be misfortunate enough to be reduced to an egg state, fate forbid, I'd be comforted in the fact that he would return as Pabumon as soon as the energy was with him. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't still grieve his initial passing."

Willis shook his head. "Humans are nothing more than carbon-based life forms. We're nothing more than cells, flesh, organs, blood, and bones. Some intelligent design pieced us together. We run on electrical impulses. In a way, we aren't much different than Digimon. Do either of us have souls? Data dissipates and functions of the body cease. All the electricity stops flowing. What if your mom died? Could you just think of her as a carbon-based life form whose living functions just suddenly ceased? Would you really find any comfort in the knowledge she might come back as a butterfly or a cat or a flower or... or... or a grapefruit? Sure, you never want to have that outlook, but death is harsh no matter who dies. I just... I don't want to be afraid to feel because I might miss out when it matters most." Willis held the egg closer. "I can't be so scientifically minded that I can't mourn someone who means the world to me."

Izzy scratched at the back of his head with a frown. "I think that my mother coming back as an unrelated life form and my Digimon coming back as the same life form with the same memories are two totally different situations." The redhead got off of his chair and kicked it back towards his desk, sitting down on the floor next to Willis. "But regardless of who it is and the details of their death, we will inevitably mourn them. I'm sure you felt sadness when Kokomon passed. But," he put his hand on the shell of the egg, grinning slightly. "Feeling joy at their return is just as important of an emotion."

Willis scoffed, laughing weakly and shaking his head. "I'm not talking about Kokomon anymore, Izzy."

Izzy raised an eyebrow, having been completely caught up in his own explanation. "Then who are you talking about?"

"You know what... Nevermind." The boy shook his head again. It was stupid. Willis took a portable Walkman from his bag along with a pair of large padded headphones. He placed them on either side of the egg and pressed play. "I've been having Kokomon listen to YoYo-Ma. Chopin and Mozart seemed kinda cliche, y'know? I think he likes this better anyway. You like YoYo-Ma?"

Izzy was insistent, though. "Come on, Willis, you can't honestly expect me to let you change the subject like that. I really like having these insightful conversations with you. Cutting them short is disappointing..."

"I was talking about you."

"Oh," Izzy said, smiling sheepishly. He didn't seem to be too surprised, but at the same time, he still started to blush. "I-I didn't want to assume..." the boy said quietly.

But Willis didn't smile. "Izzy, what if I go home and something happens to you? I'll be halfway around the world. Telling myself another carbon-based life form had expired its time on this earth isn't going to make it any easier for me to let you go. I don't want to be so scientifically inclined about death that I won't be able to handle it. Why do my heart and brain have to be so different?"

Izzy frowned then as well. "I don't know the answer to that question, Willis. And, quite honestly," he said, sliding his hand over the shell of the egg and placing it over one of Willis', "If there is one situation I would rather not theorize about, it's one in which something happens to either of us and tears us apart."

Willis sighed, leaning over to rest his head on Izzy's shoulder. "Sorry I'm such a downer."

"You're inquisitive, Willis. It may be morbid subject matter, but that fact still stands. And that's what I like about you," Izzy said. He hesitated, but then swallowed his nervousness and slowly slipped his hand around Willis' waist. "Among other things."

Now Willis smiled. "Yeah, I like that you're an egg head too, Izzy." He picked his head up so their eyes could meet. "It's really hard to find smart people who can also harness their affections. You might be rusty, but you are better than most," he said with a laugh. Willis then leaned forward and gave Izzy a brief kiss on the lips.

Izzy laughed as well when the kiss disconnected, blushing awkwardly. "Thanks, I guess," he said, dark eyes casting to the side nervously before he gave Willis a kiss back.

Willis laughed again, glad the mood had been able to lighten. It seemed their spirits had lifted the rain as well. "Hey!" he exclaimed looking out the window. "The rain stopped. Does that mean we can go to the hot spring bath now?"

Izzy looked out the window, surprised he hadn't noticed that the soft pitter patter of rain on glass had stopped. "Oh, yeah... I suppose we can. Just have to let my mom know that we're going after all," he said, standing himself up.

Willis made sure to put the DigiEgg back in it's special heated nest before getting up as well. "Do I need to bring special sandals or anything? Do we have to bring our own towels?"

"They will sell you a towel if you go without, so it's better if we just bring our own. And you're going to put your shoes in a shoe locker when we enter, so it doesn't matter what shoes you wear," Izzy said, walking over to his closet and starting to rifle through it. Eventually, he emerged with an umbrella, passing it to Willis. "I'll go tell my mom we're going and get some yen in case we want anything from the cooler... You like milk drinks?"

"Um... I like chocolate milk?" he answered, not really understanding the question. Willis took the umbrella, grabbed a beach towel from his duffel, and followed Izzy out into the hall. "I thought those places only served, like, sake and meat buns."

Izzy shook his head, putting a hand on Willis' towel. "Hold on," he said, going into his bathroom and pulling out two smaller white towels, handing one of them to Willis instead. "No, they serve a ton of stuff there. Bath houses aren't as popular as they once were since everyone's got a bath in their house now, so they need to offer as much as possible. They might even have ice cream. But I'm not sure, because if business is slow, they might not even bother restocking it. I wouldn't be surprised if it was nearly empty around this time."

"Not popular?" Willis gawked. He threw the beach towel back on top of his duffel. "How can people not like bath houses? I mean, sure you've got soap and water at home, but hot springs are Mother Nature's spa treatments. Plus, you get to be naked outside! How often can you do that? Answer: never." He followed Izzy out and continued to talk even as the redhead informed his mother where they were going. "Sure the drinks and ice cream are nice, but they shouldn't be the selling points. You can't find natural hot springs in too many places around the world. Not ones you can get in without turning into people soup. You'd think people would be struggling with each other for a chance to sit in one." They went out the front door, walking down the sidewalk, people looking strangely at the chattering American boy. "I mean it beats having to take a bath in a cold river, right? What if you run out of hot water or the pilot light goes out on the water heater? All we have are garden hoses. You guys can just walk down the street and submerged yourself in a steamy bath no matter what. And it's not like the pipes can freeze. You can sit outside in the water while it's snowing, and not freeze to death in a hot spring. How cool is that?"

Izzy smiled as he listened to Willis go on and on and gush about the bathhouse. "Well, people will take for granted what was once incredibly popular. Plus, a lot of people in our generation are embarrassed about being naked in public. So, pretty much the only people who go to bath houses anymore are tourists or those believe deeply in skinship... intimacy through public bathing. Which reminds me, you need to be careful about what you do at these places, especially since you aren't Japanese," Izzy said, "There are some bath houses that don't even let in foreigners, but the one around here does. But they will get mad if you don't get the etiquette right." As they approached the bath house, Izzy listed a few things off on his fingers. "You have to use the showers in the changing rooms and wash before bathing because they don't want you to introduce soap to the spring water. And if they see anything that they think is horseplay, they'll kick you out."

Willis nibbled on his lower lip. "Can I... swim around?" He could understand why foreigners wouldn't be let in. Some things were culturally sacred, and Americans had the bad reputation of not respecting traditions. He also understood it wasn't a public pool, but... Was he really just going to have to sit there like a bump on a log? "Or floating. Can I kinda just float around? I won't splash. I swear. Sitting in one place is just really hard for me."

"I think that's fine. As long as you don't splash, the attendant probably won't do anything. Especially if it's empty anyway." Izzy lead the way inside, taking off his shoes and putting it into one of the lockers, leaving it open for Willis to do the same. The bath house had a front desk and two different curtains hiding each changing room from view. Izzy paid the attendant and lead Willis towards the blue curtain with the kanji for men, otoko, on the front, explaining as they walked inside. "Now, we shower in here after we put the rest of our clothes in one of the lockers, and then put on the towels and head outside into the springs."

He nodded as he listened. Willis put his clothes in the same locker as Izzy. He seemed to have no problem with stripping down and showering. No doubt it came from those two years he spent in high school and had do the exact same thing in gym class. At least this time it was with a guy who wasn't nearly eight years older than him or had twice the body hair. Oh cruel fate. Why did he have to be a blond? Wrapped in his towel, he followed the redhead out. "We don't wear the towels in the wat..." Willis slowed down a bit in pace as his voice trailed off. The scene wasn't particularly spectacular, but to an American boy who'd only ever had travel guides and his imgaination to go by, he was rather taken with the hot spring. Flat bed river rocks were layered around the spring to keep the wet earth from washing away. High wooden fences kept them hidden from the view of the street. Overhead hung the low braches of large Japanese pine and there were some small flower beds planted along the side. All of this combined with the warm comforting fog that hung in the air had Willis is awe. "This place is awesome."

Izzy looked just as curious as Willis did. Despite everything he knew about them, the closest thing Izzy had ever participated in that was like a bath house was the rare occasions in which a bath was shared in the Digital World. He'd never been out to the actual public bathhouse, mostly because he wasn't the sort of kid to go out a lot, let alone to bathe in front of strangers. Izzy lead the way down the rocks to one of the lower pools, the steamy water gushing over the pathways into each other, the thick, warm white fog almost completely engulfing them as they broke through to the bottom pool. "If I'm correct, the attendant sits on top of the the bandai and watches both sides of the springs. But I don't think she can see the very bottom pools thanks to the way this one is set up, so I'd prefer to be down here."

Throwing caution to the wind, Willis dropped his towel and slipped into the water. Thanks to the rain, the place was empty. At least on the men's side. Willis was glad of this. He churned his arms out in front of him to get a slow gentle movement going, just swimming lazily around the warm pool. "The water feels soooo gooood," he said in a contentedly drunken tone. Izzy stood at the edge of the pool for a moment before finally sliding in, unraveling his towel and setting it to the side just before it hit the water. He had to admit that the warm water did feel good. He didn't venture into the water, though, and found a place where he could sit wit the water mid-way up his chest and lean back against the rocks. Blue eyes landed on the redhead, whom he slowly began to swim towards. "So..." Willis' tone was one that carried warning of a slowly approaching playful taunt. "Are you one of these believers of... Skin... Ship...?" he asked, emphasizing every letter of the broken up word.

Izzy swallowed slightly, starting to laugh nervously. "Um... I'm not too well versed in it, honestly," he started, "I suppose that the idea of sharing a mutual activity like this strengthens one's social bonds is justified..."

"Justify this," Willis growled in English and grabbed Izzy's thighs under the water.

"Ah!" Izzy gasped, a bright blush immediately heating up his pale face. He slapped one of his hands over his mouth as soon as the sound slipped through his lips.

Willis clicked his tongue and released Izzy's legs, floating back. "Now, now, Izzy. No screaming or they'll kick us out. You really do need to be better behaved," he said with a smirk.

Izzy looked completely surprised, his mouth hanging open when he removed his hand. That was the last thing he expected from the blond. "Willis," he whined quietly, squirming a bit.

He was still grinning. "Yyyeessss?"

Izzy inhaled sharply, on his exhaled breath, he murmured, "That's... rather... vexatious."

"Vexing?" Willis frowned. "Gosh, I'm sorry, Izzy. I only meant to be playful. I didn't mean to make you mad." The boy moved to the other side of the pool and sat on the little stone ledge he found. His face was turned down now, pouting guiltily.

Izzy frowned as well, finding his foot and wading over to Willis' side of the pool. "That wasn't the word I was attempting to emulate," he said quickly, "I'd pick a synonym like bothersome... like how one feels when a particularly sensitive area is disturbed," he said, hoping that his message got across without him having to get very explicit. The redhead was blushing enough as it was.

"Oh?" Willis looked at the other boy confusedly before those blue eyes went wide. "Oh!" He began blushing just as brightly as Izzy now and he coughed nervously. "Wow, I'm sorry. I definitely didn't mean for that to happen. All I really wanted to do was play a little. Sorry... Um, g-gomen? Gomen nasai? Yeah. I'm really really sorry."

Izzy laughed weakly, scratching at the back of his head, the red frizzes of hair flattened against his skin. "I'm just glad it's empty here today," he said, as he leaned against the rock wall again.

"The overcast is nice," Willis said, suddenly trying to change the awkward subject. "I bet hot water on a hot day isn't so nice. Like a hot tub in July. I think hot springs are best like this. Summer rain just ended so there's that warm vapor hanging in the air with a slight chill from the water, y'know? Everything is wet and fresh now." Willis looked around. Anywhere except at Izzy. "It's really nice here. Wish we had these back home. Just... relaxing, right?"

"Right," Izzy said, his eyes also looking around at the springs rather than at Willis. He knew he was blushing still and he knew it wouldn't die down thanks to the hot water and the steam rising off of it. "It is nice to be able to enjoy the hot springs despite the fact that it's been warm lately... the rain worked to our advantage even if it did delay us."

Willis nodded. "Plus it kept everyone else away. To be honest, I think I might have been too shy to get in if other people were here." He laughed nervously. "So much for the bold and brash American kid, huh?"

Izzy laughed as well. "Somehow, you don't peg me as the shy type, Willis," he said, finally letting his dark eyes look over at the blond. "At least if that had been the case, I definitely would have been too nervous to do it either."

"I am pretty shy, actually. I know I don't come across that way, but... When I'm nervous, I sort've just push myself to do it." His eyes met Izzy's. "Like on the ferris wheel when I blurted out that I liked you. I was scared out of my head, but I really wanted to tell you, so I... just... forced it out. If other people were here, the only way I could get in is if I closed my eyes and jumped in. I don't think that counts as confidence."

Izzy shrugged slightly. "Maybe not, but you're still more confident than me when it comes to stuff like that. I wouldn't have even dreamed of coming to a place like this if you hadn't been interested in seeing it," he admitted. "I've only been in a public bath once or twice, and even then, no one there was a stranger, it was just my friends."

Willis nodded. "Your home town never seems interesting until a foreigner comes along. To me, Colorado is boring as dirt, but I bet if you came to visit..." He smiled. "You'd find a hundred things for us to do."

"I would like to see Colorado," Izzy said, leaning his head back and smiling a bit. "Maybe next time I should... come over there, then."

"I'd like that." Willis slipped his hand in with Izzy's below the water. "Have you ever seen the desert, Izzy?"

Izzy smiled slightly, his fingers lacing together with Willis'. "No, I haven't... Not one that isn't digital, anyway," he said with a quiet laugh.

"Earth deserts are different, I bet. There's lots of mountains too." Willis was smiling now too. "I can show you the Continental Divide. Maybe we can try skiing." He laughed joyfully. "I bet you and I would be falling and slipping all over the snow."

Izzy laughed as well, nodding. "We definitely would be... I'm not very good at sports, let alone those that involve hurtling down a mountain." He quieted his chuckles, looking over at the blond. "I would like to see all of that, though."

The boy blushed. "We'll ride horses instead. Into the sunset."

Izzy blushed as well, laughing slightly. "Alright... I'd like that."

Willis chuckled, the sound coming out in puffs of air. Blue eyes glanced away, looking here and there before gazing back upon the redhead. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Izzy's. He pulled back grinning. "Into the sunset, then."

Izzy blushed, the water shifting as his knees pressed together. "Yeah," he said quietly, leaning forward as well and pressing their lips back together.

Izzy had just checked the small calendar that was hidden in the corner of his computer's screen, a tiny frown on his face. Tonight was the last night that Willis would be spending with him before he flew back to America. Izzy had been having such a good time with him that he'd completely lost track of the days, and now it felt like Willis' visit had gone by far too quickly. He didn't want him to leave, but he knew that he had to. The redhead looked down at the DigiEgg he held between his legs and his stomach and rubbed the shell slightly, looking over his shoulder at the open door. He'd just taken a shower and Willis would be back from his soon, ready for bed. But Izzy didn't want to go to sleep yet, just to wake up the next morning and see Willis off. He sighed, turning back to his computer and starting to type again.

"You still look good like that," came Willis' voice from the doorway. He stood there, backlit from the hall light, with a towel around his waist and one draped over his head. He was smiling at Izzy fondly, but noticed the forlorn look in those brown eyes. "I don't want to leave either." Willis stepped into the room and closed the door behind him gently.

"It's a... less than favorable circumstance," Izzy said quietly, turning his computer chair around and untucking his legs, letting his bare feet hit the wooden floor and now instead holding the egg in his arms. "Even though it's inevitable that you'd have to leave, I... still think we should do something special. I mean, it is your last night here."

Blue eyes stared curiously at the other. "Special? What else is there to do? It's too late to go out." Willis went to his duffle bag and started folding clothes. He knew he should have done this earlier, but he and Izzy lost track of time at the arcade. "I'm so tempted to just stay, y'know? It's not like my parents are waiting for me back home. All that's there is a dorm with a roommate twice my age who likes to spend his scholarship savings on beer." Willis sighed. "I like it so much better here. With you."

Izzy shrugged his shoulders, "Well, I don't know. Special like..." he scratched at the back of his head. "I don't know. I just feel like we should do something." He smiled slightly, saying, "At least you can come back some other time. But, uh... did you get to do everything you wanted to do here?"

Willis glanced over his shoulder at first, but he saw Izzy smiling so he turned slightly and leaned back on his hands. "Hardly. I read up so much about Japan before I came here. There's so much I still want to do. I could be here for a year and not get around to everything. Your country is just so cool." His grin widened. "You've got samurai, ninjas, geisha, gardens, castles, temples, shrines, festivals, cool stores, great food, and so much tech stuff! I just wanna live here, y'know?" Willis blushed. "But that just makes me sound like a crazy tourist."

Izzy laughed gently. "It's pretty obvious you're a gaijokujin," he said, smirking slightly. He stood up, gently placing the DigiEgg into the little nest in a box Willis had made on the first night, turning on the heating pad inside it. Izzy then walked over to Willis, still grinning. "Do you know that that means?"

Willis grinned sheepishly. "A hot American boy?"

Izzy laughed, tugging on the hem of his oversized t-shirt, "It means foreigner, but I don't mind your interpretation."

The redhead was just so cute when he was nervous. Which meant he was cute just about all of the time. Willis just grinned and leaned in to steal a quick kiss off Izzy. "Would it be gaijokujin of me to say that you're a moé?"

"Very," Izzy said, blushing. While some may have found Willis' terrible Japanese annoying, Izzy actually thought it was rather admirable how hard Willis tried to learn their language. His hands were still wrapped up in the bottom of his shirt, and Izzy was still blushing embarrassedly, but he still leaned forward and pressed his lips against Willis' in a deep kiss. Naturally, Willis pressed back into the kiss. He liked kissing. He couldn't say why. He didn't really know. Willis was just twelve years old and liked kissing. But he really, really, really, liked kissing Izzy. The boy brought his hands up only to realize he didn't know where to put them. He used to hold his girlfriend's face when they kissed, but Izzy wasn't a girl. Did they hold hands? Izzy's hands were gripping his shirt, though. Very awkwardly, Willis' left hand landed on the other boy's arm and the right on his shoulder.

Izzy shivered slightly when Willis' hand touched his bare arm. His own hands finally untangled from his shirt, but then he also found that he had no idea what to do with them. He sort of wanted to snake his hands around Willis' waist, but he hesitated at the last second and instead his hands just fell on the blond's hips instead. Willis broke the kiss to let out a laugh. "I'm sorry," he said. "I... I'm ticklish there. Always have been. Sorry. Uhm, here..." He took Izzy's hands and wrapped them around himself, meeting on his back. "That okay?"

"Y-yeah," Izzy said, also laughing nervously. "That's okay... uh, sorry," he offered a sheepish smile, blushing and looking at the floor. Despite how much time they'd spent together, Izzy always seemed to be tripping over himself.

Willis lowered his head and tried to look up under Izzy's face, offering a charming smile. "Is this the kind of special you were talking about? 'Cause I like it."

Izzy swallowed, grinning back. "Yeah, something like this," he said, placing another peck on the blond's lips.

He waited until their lips smooched apart to ask, "Have you ever done this kind of stuff before?" Willis tried placing his hands again. He touched Izzy's thighs, but it didn't feel right. He moved for the shoulders. No... Face? No... Neck? No, no... Willis' hands ended up just hanging in the air unsuredly. "You're such a dork," he breathed to himself in English.

"N-no," Izzy answered what he could understand, biting his lip shyly. "I hadn't even ever been on a date before you came here, Willis."

"I always knew what to do with Maiko. Why can't I figure it out now?" Willis laughed again. He sometimes did it when he was frustrated. "You're supposed to be my boyfriend now and I can't even figure out how to touch you. At least you have a good reason. I should know this stuff, right?"

"I guess..." Izzy said, shrugging his shoulders sheepishly. He grinned nervously, saying, "I honestly thought you'd be annoyed because you were leagues ahead of me with this stuff. I only know... well..." he blushed slightly, leaning a bit closer. "What I've heard from a certain friend who's always open to share... w-wether I want him to or not." With that, Izzy started to laugh nervously, but it died down when he bit his lip again.

The boy chuckled. "You mean Taichi? Because I get that vibe from him."

"Yes, him," Izzy said with a cough. "The... benefits of being one of his closer friends are pretty weird sometimes."

"Plus you lived, like, right downstairs from him, right?" Willis leaned forward and placed a firm kiss on Izzy's neck. "But now you have stuff to tell him. So there."

Izzy gasped quietly, his hands tensing and his fingers pulling across Willis' back gently. "Well, y-yeah, I suppose I do..." he breathed.

Willis pulled back, having been startled by Izzy's reaction. "Aw crap, sorry, Izzy," he sighed. "I'm breaking all sorts of cultural rules, huh?"

"That's, um, okay," Izzy managed, brown eyes looking into blue. His face was completely flushed as red as his hair. "We're behind closed doors, r-right?"

He bit his lip, also blushing. "Is it even okay that you're older than me?" Despite his hesitation, Willis' hands had finally found their way down onto Izzy's legs. They had been sitting there patiently, content in their place. Now the boy's mind was getting curious. So his hands started moving, slowly, fingers creeping up underneath Izzy's boxers. "I mean... are you gonna have to go through some shame ritual now or something?"

Izzy gasped again, blushing and smiling nervously. "N-not that I know of," he said, getting even more embarrassed when his voice rose a bit in pitch just from having Willis' hands moving like that.

To Willis, these were all the wrong sounds. He didn't think Izzy was wrong. Willis thought that he was wrong himself. As much as he understood, people only made those noises if they were scared, hurt, or unwilling. He drew his hands away and shoved them into his lap. Willis looked down, his shoulders hunching up around his ears. "Sorry, Izzy... I guess I don't know how to do this the right way. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable." The boy started laughing again. This was so awkward! "Guess I am still just a kid. I can't even flirt good."

Izzy shook his head. "No, i-it's my fault. I'm too new to this." He scratched at the back of his neck. "I guess we're just not ready. But, uh, m-m-maybe next time you visit...?"

Willis looked up shyly. "But how are we supposed to get any better if we're not together to practice?"

"Well, I-I don't really know," Izzy said, "This doesn't seem like the sort of thing we can research... but next time we'll have more time to practice, in theory... right?"

The blond nodded disappointedly. "I guess so... I..." Blue eyes finally looked up. "I'm really gonna miss you, Izzy."

Izzy nodded, looking at Willis as well. "I'm going to miss you too..."

"Don't... Don't forget me, okay? And don't date anybody else, because I'm not going to. I want us to keep trying. I want us to work. I really, really like you, Izzy. A whole, whole lot. So... Wait 'til I come back. Okay?"

"I'll wait," Izzy said, nodding his head before gently butting his forehead against Willis'. "I really like you too, Willis. We'll keep in touch over the internet until you can come back again, right?"

"Mhm. I'll even get a webcam, then we can see each other when we talk. That'll be cool, right?" Willis' nudged his forehead against the other's affectionately. He liked just doing these little things, too. "And I'll tell you all about how the project goes. And you can meet Terriermon. And I can get you on camera when Kokomon hatches. And then you'll have to watch me suffer through acne."

Izzy laughed, nodding. "Somehow I'm sure you'll come out of it just fine." He kissed Willis' forehead before pulling back slightly. "I already have a webcam... Maybe I can even figure out a way to link it up and let you meet Tentomon." He smiled, shuffling his foot. "So... I guess we'll talk over that until you can come back, and maybe we'll be more ready next time."

Willis nodded. "Yeah, I bet we will be." He changed into his pajamas and pulled Izzy along until they were lying on the futon together. Willis then placed the DigiEgg between them, took Izzy's hand in his, and smiled at the redhead. "Mind spending our last night like this?"

"Not at all," Izzy said with a fond smile. "I personally couldn't think of a better way." He wished his hand wasn't so sweaty as it laced together with Willis' and he wished he didn't keep nervously glancing away from those blue eyes, smiling to himself, but he couldn't help it. Eventually, he simply closed his eyes instead, murmuring, "Good night, Willis."

Willis smiled in that boyish way. Instead of closing his eyes, he just watched the other boy. He'd stay up all night if he could. After all, Willis could sleep on the plane ride home. "Night, Izzy," he said and gave the hand a gentle squeeze. This had been the best vacation ever.


	12. Second Visit

Izzy would have been lying if he denied that he'd been waiting at the airport for hours. Even though he knew Willis' plane was arriving in Japan in the evening, he'd come to the airport right after he'd had lunch to wait for him. The redheaded boy had brought his laptop and had busied himself with it as he waited at baggage claim, occasionally looking up, like he expected to see Willis amongst the swath of people even though he knew his flight was far from arriving. The hours felt like they stretched on forever, and the boy felt a little self-concious, like the people claiming their bags cared that the boy had actually worn jeans and a shirt that fit him instead of his usually baggy attire to impress his American boyfriend. So, he buried his face in his computer as he watched the minutes tick by until Willis' flight arrived.

"Excuse me. Excuse me, sorry." The familiar broken language could finally be heard amongst the fresh crowd of people. Willis still wasn't the best at speaking Japanese, only getting practice in on weekends when he talked to Izzy. "Excuse me. My bag. Sorry, but my bag." The boy was trying to push his way through, but the locals didn't seem fond of his behavior. "Please, it's getting away. It'll have to go all the way around. Can you just- Please, can you grab it for me, please? It's right there. The green one. I'm sorry, could you? Mmnnn... My bag." Izzy heard the familiar voice from where he was sitting. Hearing it for real, and not through the filter of a webcam, made Izzy realize that it had gotten deeper, but he still recognized it all the same. He stood up, shutting his laptop and sliding it into its bag that he had on his back, before he managed to slip through the crowd and grab the bag just before it vanished behind the conveyer-belt door. "My ba-!" But then he saw it in someone's hand. "Oh, my bag! Thank you so much! I..." Willis slowed to a stop. Voices weren't the only thing filtered through a webcam. So were faces. A year had past and Izzy's hair was redder. His eyes more like chocolate. His skin like a white peach. Simply adorable. He'd missed that face. "Izzy!" The blond boy, now a young teenager, ran forward and threw his arms around his boyfriend. "Izzy! I'm so happy to see you! It's been so long!" People around them were staring, some looking offended or even horrified at the blond's increasingly extroverted behavior.

Izzy laughed nervously, putting his arms around Willis as well and patting his back weakly, very conscious of the people staring. "It's great to see you too, Willis," Izzy said quietly, biting his lip a bit. "But uh, m-maybe we should get out of the crowd?" he offered with another nervous exhale.

"Okay." Willis pulled back from the hug, only now realizing he'd grown to be almost a head taller than Izzy. "Whoah... Guess this is what I get from all those leg and back cramps." He frowned a little, not liking to be taller than someone who was older than him. Much less when that someone was his boyfriend.

Izzy nodded a bit, taking Willis' hand to lead him out of the crowd still trying to get their bags. In fact, the boy was set on getting right out of the airport. He didn't say anything until they were outside and walking down the sidewalk towards where Izzy lived. It was then that he turned to look up at the other boy, smiling slightly. "Uh... you look good, Willis."

But Willis just continued to frown and shook his head. "No, I don't. I had that growth spurt and now I'm all gangly. My voice breaks sometimes. Not to mention the acne is starting to show up. And I'm getting hair under my arms!" The boy sighed, slouching in an attempt to be shorter. "It's all really weird... I don't like it."

Izzy frowned a bit as well. He'd barely had any of those problems when he went through puberty. His skin had mostly stayed clear, he was still relatively hairless, and even though he had grown a lot, he was still rather short. He sympathized with having a voice that cracked from time to time, though, as that was his biggest problem. "It's only natural," he commented, the only thing he could think of to say.

"That's what my mom said." Willis just shook his head and stood up straight. He offered his smile and said, "You look good, too, Izzy. I really missed you. Talking over a webcam just isn't the same."

Izzy felt warm inside just hearing those words. The redhead's smile returned and he nodded. "It really isn't. I'm so glad you were able to come back here this year."

Willis beamed. He leaned over to give Izzy a kiss on the cheek, whether it was socially acceptable or not. He wanted to. "I'd have swam here if I had to. No way I was going to miss out on a chance to see you." Izzy blushed, putting a hand over the cheek that Willis kissed. He laughed nervously, looking at his feet. Willis just laughed. "Come on, you moé. Let's get to your apartment. I want to get settled in." And with that he grabbed Izzy's hand and started walking again, despite not even knowing the way. He was just too eager to get there. To finally be alone with Izzy. Izzy smiled, pulling Willis into a turn down a different street so they were back on the right track. All year, it had felt like he'd never have gotten to see Willis again. But now, it felt like he'd never left. When they arrived at his building, he lead the other boy into the elevator, got them to the right floor, and took out his keys with his free hand and let them inside. "Hey, um..." Willis looked around as he slipped his shoes off. "Are your parents home?" he asked trying to sound casual about it.

"No, I don't think so," Izzy said as he took his own shoes off as well. "They said they'd be going out to dinner."

Willis grinned. "Good." He grabbed Izzy and dragged the redhead to his room where the door was promptly shut. He dropped his bag on the ground, staring at the other boy. "You missed me, right?"

"Y-Yeah," Izzy said, looking a little confused. "Of course... why?"

"Then..." Willis moved forward slowly, reaching out his hand to cup Izzy's face. "You wouldn't mind if I kissed you, right?"

Izzy's hands itched and soon came to grip at Willis' shirt. "Of course I wouldn't mind."

"Good." He said nothing more before his lips met with Izzy's. Willis was slow and smooth at first, but a year's worth of separation quickly got the better of him and the kiss deepened. He slid his tongue over Izzy's pale lips, waiting to see what would happen. Oh man, had he been waiting for this. And for too long. Izzy made a surprised, muffled noise, his lips soon opening to allow Willis' tongue in. Last year, a kiss on the cheek made the both of them start stumbling over themselves, so feeling Willis' lips so suddenly on his made his face heat up nearly as red as his hair as he pressed into the kiss. Willis had been practicing. Though he would never say how to save himself the embarrassment. Hand puppets of sorts were involved. While his right hand continued to cradle Izzy's face, the left came down and slipped around the boy's waist. Willis slipped his tongue inside his boyfriend's mouth and began exploring with good natured curiosity. He hummed at the redhead's taste; like... like a red starburst.

Izzy pulled back slightly to breathe, his eyes closed and his hair brushing Willis' forehead as their lips only slightly pulled apart. "I missed you," he said quietly, pulling a bit on the fabric of the other boy's shirt.

Willis nodded and swallowed as he tried to gather his words. Blue eyes stared into the mixed Asian face as he spoke. "I had a lot of time to think while I was at home. I missed you so much when I was gone, Izzy, and... I figured out that... the only way I can miss someone that much is..." He swallowed again. "I lo-"

"Pardon me, I hate to interrupt, but aren't you going to introduce me?" a buzzing voice cut in. Willis yelped, jumping back and pushing Izzy away at the same time on reflex. Now his face was red.

Izzy turned around, his hands mechanically snapping down to his sides when they were yanked away from Willis' shirt. His eyes fell on the open crack in the door, through which Tentomon had appeared. "Oh, Tentomon," he said, laughing nervously and forcing one of his arms back up to gesture to the blond boy behind him. "Tentomon, this is Willis. Willis, Tentomon," he said, looking apologetically back at the other boy, obviously guilty he'd neglected to mention the Digimon's presence.

"Tento? Oh! Oh hey, Tentomon!" Willis said cheerfully. If it had been anyone else, Willis would probably have thrown a fit, but he'd been wanting to meet Tentomon for a long time as well. He walked up to the insect and held one of his claws. "Nice to meet you. I'd been hoping to chat with you via three-way webcam access, but we were never so fortunate. So you live with Izzy now?"

Tentomon nodded, his attitude reflecting a smile if he had one. "Yes, the Digital World might be where I came from, but being with Izzy is more like being at home."

Willis tried not to frown in front of the red Digimon, but he turned to Izzy and whispered, "I can't understand him very well..."

"It's because he speaks in the Kansai dialect," Izzy explained quietly, smiling a bit. "Don't worry, a lot of people have trouble with it. He said that being with me is more like being at home than the Digital World. You'll get a handle on it eventually, he really isn't that hard to understand after a while if you listen."

"Oh..." Willis grinned sheepishly. "Okay. I get it. Um... Do you think you could get him to..." He jerked his head to the side, implying he wanted the Digimon to leave, but then he also wondered if Izzy was even in the mood anymore.

Izzy frowned a bit. He had to admit that he'd like for more alone time with Willis, but he felt bad. Tentomon really didn't have much to do around the house aside from watch television and talk to Izzy. The poor Digimon couldn't do much else with those claws of his and no thumbs. "How about we all have dinner first," he suggested gently. "He usually retires for bed early, anyway. He's been wanting to meet you."

Willis made a small protesting noise, but he couldn't say no to Izzy. Not when those big brown eyes were looking at him like that. "Yeah okay... Dinner sounds nice."

Tentomon buzzed happily at the mention of food. "May we have ika somen tonight?" he asked. "I do rather like that dish, and you prepare it so well, Izzy."

The American boy laughed. "Ika somen?"

"Yeah, squid strips in somen soup," Izzy said, smiling slightly. "I can make that, I think we have everything I need." He swung the door open and lead the two into the dining room before going into the kitchen. He made dinner and served it, and the three of them talked for hours about the Digital World and Izzy and Tentomon's adventures there. Tentomon seemed very interested in the Digidestined from other parts of the world and asked about Willis' Digimon only for the conversation to somehow find itself back at some bad guy the two had once faced and defeated. Izzy could see the anxiousness on Willis' face, though, and once it seemed like they'd all finished dinner and were only talking, he quickly stood to clean up and was joined promptly by his Digimon, who, once they were done, did just as Izzy said he would and dismissed himself to go to sleep rather early on the couch.

Willis was sitting in his seat just grinning down at where his plate had been. The dinner conversation had been interesting and entertaining, but had not done well to take his mind off his original plans. "Hey, Izzy, you know the thing about squid tentacles?" He looked up at the redhead then with an even bigger grin. "They're really phallical."

Izzy was putting the last dish away and practically dropped it at what Willis said, catching it just in time and sliding it into the cabinet as he blushed profusely. "Willis," he hissed in a cute and almost scolding manner, embarrassment obvious, glancing towards the edge of the couch he could see in the living room, as if he was unsure if his Digimon was really asleep or not.

"Just c'mon," the blond boy said with a laugh as he grabbed Izzy's hand and pulled him to the bedroom again. This time Willis made sure to both close and lock the door. Even if the Izumis came home and were curious about the locked door, he wanted no more interruptions. Willis turned around, reaching to turn on the overhead light, but stopped. Izzy looked fascinating in the light of the moon. The pale blue glow in the room illuminated his skin to show off all the gentle curves on his face, hands and arms. Even his hair had a sort of violet glow about it, and his eyes shimmered ever so slightly. Willis decided the light was better turned off. "Wow..."

Izzy looked confused as the other boy stared at him. With his back to the window, Willis was backlit in such a way that Izzy couldn't really make out his features, just the golden glow of the very edges of his hair. "What?" he asked, touching his face self-conciously.

Willis just shook his head slowly in disbelief. "You just look really... wow," he breathed. "You are so one of a kind, Izzy. I don't think... I could find another person who looks even remotely like you. Even if I looked all over the world." He took a few steps forward. "And while that may be the biggest sack of corniness you've ever heard..." Willis stopped just in front of Izzy, hands coming up to touch where they would. "I want to see more of you."

Izzy shivered, licking his lips and managing a smile. "Okay... i-it's been a year since we last tried. I'm definitely ready to try again if it's with you, Willis," the redhead said, managing a nod that made the soft light pooling across the floor flash in his eyes.

Willis smiled. "Great." His hands found their way to the buttons on Izzy's shirt. One by one they slipped from their holes with the help of his nimble fingers. "You know... I had dreams like this sometimes..."

"Dreams, really?" Izzy asked, and his own hands fumbled for something to do. But he couldn't think of anything, he was mostly just staring into Willis' face.

"Mhmm... Sometimes they went like our first time; just fumbling and funny. Other times it would go really well and I would try to remember for when I came back here. Then, every once in a while, they would go to really weird places." The boy chuckled softly. "But that was because I ate ice cream and drank Red Bull before going to bed." He got the collared shirt to slip away from Izzy's narrow shoulders onto the floor; not surprised to find a cotton shirt underneath it. Willis smiled and just shook his head again without saying anything. He started to moved the redhead toward the bed while grabbing the hem of that shirt and pulling up. Izzy laughed nervously when the black shirt he'd worn under his orange button-down was pulled away as well. He was skinny, soft, and small, and he knew it. He crossed one arm over his chest and held the other just to have something to do with them, before he actually figured out something useful to do with them and reached forward to take off Willis' shirt as well. "Wait..." Willis moved Izzy's arms back down. "I wanna look." Blue eyes were trained on the pale moonlit body. He could make out where Izzy's ribcage curved under the skin and soft tissue. He could see his chest moving from the nervous breath filling his lungs. He saw how Izzy's stomach was even with everything else, that is until it realized it was being watched, so it sunk in... shy. And he could see where Izzy's pelvis tried to stick out beyond his hips, but were too small depsite how hard they tried. "Perfect..." the American boy whispered.

Izzy blushed a bit more and looked down at his feet, his toes curling shyly in his socks. "N-not really," he laughed. "It's rather strange to be complimented like that," he followed up quickly, his brown eyes glancing back up into blue ones that he could finally see.

"You are," Willis insisted, "to me." He wrapped his arms around the redhead, holding Izzy's flatly shaped back as he lowered him onto the bed. Now Willis was looking over him, eyes sweeping his plain, yet appealing body once more. "Sometimes it just takes the right person to appreciate it." Willis' finger stroked the smaller boy's collarbone, swept down to his chest where it teased in a circular motion. Next his finger followed the shallow line down the boy's torso, moving painfully slow, and then dipped into the small navel he found at the end. "So cute."

"Hn..." Suddenly, Izzy regretted wearing pants that fit him. He lifted his arms and slipped them around Willis' shoulders, looking at the sheets and swallowing hard before lifting himself up off the mattress slightly to close the gap between him and kiss his boyfriend. His feet rubbed together shyly and he managed to remove his own socks as his lips moved over Willis', his own warm and wet after he'd licked them nervously. Willis hummed and leaned over so Izzy could rest on the pillow. He really liked the wet feeling of Izzy's lips on his. When they started to dry, his tongue would come out to lick them again, keeping them moist. His fingernail brushed at the hem of the redhead's pants. Willis would move it back and forth a few times before sneaking back up to swirl around the cute little navel. All the little noises this earned him made the boy smile around the kiss and laugh softly to himself. Izzy pulled back from the kiss and smiled as well, his lips still close enough to brush against Willis' as they moved, but far enough apart for him to breathe, "You've... uh... gotten a lot better at this..."

"Yeah, well..." Now Willis began to blush. "You pick up on a few things. Y'know."

"I don't think I have," Izzy admitted quietly. "Hopefully it won't be too much of a hinderance for you to... teach me by example."

The blond swallowed, trying to regain his confidence. "Do you want to see me, now?"

"Y-yeah," Izzy said, his hands unhooking from around Willis' neck to reach for the hem of his shirt again. He pulled it up over the blond's head slowly, averting his eyes to the side in embarrassment but quickly finding them glancing back, until he'd discarded the shirt onto the floor and those brown depths were locked.

Willis held his breath during the whole process. He hadn't realized how unnerving it was to have your self exposed to another. Sure there'd been that time at the hot spring, but this was so way totally different. When all Izzy did was stare, Willis got nervous. A nervous chuckle could be heard. "S-Say something..."

"You look great," Izzy breathed, heat rising beneath his skin as he looked. Willis may have thought he'd gotten gangly and awkward as puberty hit him, but Izzy could see much more definition and tone in the other boy's chest than the last time he'd seen him shirtless, and he found himself floored by how much it captivated his stare. Eventually, he broke his eyes away with an equally nervous laugh to Willis'. "Sorry," he said quickly.

Willis sighed in relief. "Thanks." After staring awkwardly at each other for some long seconds, Willis finally dipped his head down to kiss along Izzy's neck. He pressed his lips firmly against the skin leaving good strong kisses. Even his tongue would come out to lick behind the boy's ear. Even during all of this his hands kept busy. Palms moved over the surface of Izzy's stomach and would then cup his sides, rubbing up and down gently, slowly.

"Nn..." Izzy squirmed a bit under Willis. He was sensitive to every touch, every brush of Willis' skin against his own, every kiss. It made him blush and lose his voice, his brown eyes closing and letting Willis stimulate a sensitive body that had never gotten this sort of attention.

"Hey," Willis whispered in Izzy's ear. "You'll tell me if it gets to be too much, right?"

"Yeah," Izzy breathed, managing a shaky laugh. "But somehow I doubt it." He slipped his arms back around the blond's shoulders. "I'm uh..." he bit his lip shyly. "Really enjoying it."

The blond boy just nodded. "Okay... Oh, um... I'm glad." Words spoken, Willis was once again leaning down and kissing Izzy. He kissed the corner of Izzy's mouth, Izzy's neck, Izzy's shoulder, Izzy's chest. Lots of little kisses on Izzy's chest. Izzy. He was kissing Izzy and it was amazing. The best. Better than he imagined. Way better. "Izzy..." Willis could feel the skin heating up against his lips. Hopefully it meant he was doing things right. "Izzy... My Izzy..." Finally the kisses reached his stomach, which was turning into Willis' favorite place on the redhead's body. He just thought it was so cute.

"Willis..." Izzy breathed, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. He'd missed Willis so much. He wanted so badly to be with Willis for the longest time, and now he was getting that in a way he'd never thought he'd get to experience. His hands came to slide his fingers through golden hair. "Willis... k-keep going," he nearly pleaded through a whine that built in his throat. Willis was more than willing to do so, except that he was reaching the limits of what he knew how to do. Or at least... what they could both handle. What he could handle. Doing his best to keep Izzy satisfied, Willis undid the button and zipper on the other's pants. The flaps were folded back and soon his lips met with Izzy's soft lower belly. Willis' hands gripped Izzy's legs in the hopes that this would be enough. Izzy's breathing lurched with a sharp inhale when Willis grabbed his legs. Something twitched and moved against Willis' chin and Izzy suddenly blushed furiously, scrambling up into a sitting position. His arms came to cross in front of him, between his legs, as he pressed against the wall behind his bed, acting as his headboard. He opened his mouth to say something, when he heard a click and a creak from outside in the apartment. "My parents..." he managed in a quiet voice.

"Oh crap," Willis hissed in English. He scrambled off the bed onto the floor, grabbing his shirt and throwing the black one to Izzy. When he was sure they looked decent enough, Willis jumped up to unlock the door and open in just a crack. Lastly he slammed his hand over the lightswitch which illuminated the room much brighter than he anticipated. Izzy shielded his eyes when the lights suddenly jumped on. He felt around for his orange shirt until he finally managed to force his eyes open enough to find it all the way over by the door. He got up, only to hurriedly make his bed again before he grabbed it and put it on, messily buttoning up the buttons.

"Izzy, honey, you home?" called his mother. She came to the door, knocking softly before peeking her head inside. "Oh! Willis, you made it!" she said with a smile. "How was your flight?"

"G-Good. Good," he stammered nervously while running his hands over his shirt.

"Did you two have dinner yet?"

"Yes, ma'am. Izzy made ika somen. It was really good."

She just kept on smiling. "Well I'm glad you got here safely. Masami and I are going to turn in early tonight. We had a busy evening. You boys don't stay up too late now."

Izzy shuffled his feet nervously, but offered his mother a smile. "O-of course mom, we won't," he said, having to try so hard to keep the stammer out of his voice. He hoped inside his mind he wasn't blushing too badly.

Yoshie nodded. "All right, goodnight Koushiro. Goodnight Willis." And with that she closed the door.

Willis let out a huge sigh of relief and slouched heavily where he stood. "Oh man... That was close..."

Izzy exhaled heavily, falling back onto the bed. "You said it," he agreed, putting his hand on his head and pushing his bangs off his forehead.

"Hey..." Willis turned his head slightly, but didn't look over his shoulder. "Sorry about before. I... I thought that's what you meant. Though I wasn't really going to, um... Sorry."

"That is what I meant," Izzy said with a sigh, splaying his arms out on the mattress beside him and frowning up at the ceiling. "I just chickened out, so don't apologize."

"Yeah, but... Even if you wanted me to, you know... I don't think I could've."

Izzy nodded slightly, letting out a puff of nervous laughter. "We'll get there eventually... right?"

Willis nodded half-heartedly. "I guess so." He moved to the foot of the bed where he found the futon folded and waiting for him. He laid it out, like he remembered being taught, and laid the sheets over it as well. The green bag took the futon's place at the foot of the bed and he began rummaging for pajamas and his toothbrush.

Izzy sat up, pulling his legs up to his chest as he watched Willis from the bed. After a few minutes of thinking and silence, he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. I dunno." Willis found his pajamas and changed into them from where he crouched on the floor. Today's clothes were just put in a pile next to his bag. Blue eyes stared at his green toothbrush, but he didn't feel like going all the way to the bathroom. What was the point anyway? Even if he brushed them before bed he would still have to brush them again in the morning. Suddenly seemed like a waste of time, water, and toothpaste. So he put the thing back in his bag and just sat there.

Izzy frowned, getting off of the bed just to sit beside Willis on the floor. He shifted a few times, finally crossing his legs beneath him and putting his elbows on his knees. "Willis, I can tell something's bothering you," he said, brown eyes looking concernedly up at the other boy. "What is it?"

"What if I can't do it?"

"Can't?" Izzy asked, tilting his head slightly. "Willis, it's highly unlikely that you'll never be able to go through with it. If you can't do it at first, then we'll wait. That's all. I know I'm going to have some difficulty, too."

"But you're gonna want it and be way more serious about it a lot sooner than I am," Willis whined. "You're already sixteen, Izzy. I just turned thirteen, and you know what? Sex is ridiculous to me. I think it's hilarious. I found a video of this great dane humping a lawn flamingo and laughed for ten minutes. No matter how hard I try, I can't be romantic about it. All it is to me is the nature channel and turtles trying to mount each other while making awesomely hysterical faces." Willis sighed. He felt guilty for being to juvenile in front of the older boy. "Say I can't do it this time either. I go away for another year, so you have to wait another year. Suddenly you're seventeen. Who wants to be virgin anymore by then? What if I'm still laughing at great danes and lawn flamingos? You won't want to wait anymore."

"I never really had any plans to lose my virginity before I turned seventeen, Willis," Izzy said, still frowning gently. "In fact, I didn't really have plans at all. I'm not expecting anything of you, Willis, and I'm not expecting anything of my love life, either." The redhead laughed gently, unable to help a slight blush. "It's enough for me to have someone to go out with, let alone all of this. I'm really not in any rush."

"But..." Willis continued to whine softly. In the simplest, and perhaps lamest, of terms: Willis wanted to be a big boy. "But you were acting like you liked it so much. I just wanted to explore and experiment, but then you said that... And I thought if I didn't..."

Izzy just grinned and waved his hand dismissively. "I was caught up in the moment. When thinking clearly, Willis, I know that if you're not ready, you're not ready. And I'm more than willing to wait." The redhead shifted closer on the floor, before leaning over and resting his head against Willis' shoulder.

Willis grinned then. Suddenly he felt much better. He could tell Izzy's words were sincere, and he was glad. "Thanks." He wrapped and arm around Izzy's waist and pulled him along gently until they'd laid down on the futon. Willis yawned, the jet lag finally kicking in. "We can... go to the... arcade tomorrow... right?" he asked sleepily.

"You know it," Izzy said, cuddling closer to his boyfriend. He'd soon laid his head on Willis' chest and had shut his eyes. It had been a long day, but an even longer year of waiting for Willis. But Izzy was finally back in his arms, and it felt like he'd never left.


End file.
